Robert Gabriel Sterling (born November 14, 1970) is an American politician and elections official from the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. He is the

chief operating officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...

(COO) in the office of the Georgia Secretary of State. He previously served on the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

for

Sandy Springs, Georgia Sandy Springs is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia, United States, and a suburb of Atlanta. The city's population was 108,080 at the 2020 census, making it Georgia's 7th most populous city. It is the site of several corporate headquar ...

. Sterling received widespread attention for his speech denouncing false claims of election fraud in the 2020 election.

Early life and career

Sterling graduated from Riverwood International Charter School in Sandy Springs, and the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

. He began working in Republican Party politics as a volunteer for Mack Mattingly in his unsuccessful 1986 reelection bid to the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

. He served as campaign manager for Charlie Norwood in his successful election to the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

in 1994. In 1998, Sterling ran for the

Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republican Party (United States), Repu ...

in District 43, facing Dorothy Felton in the Republican Party

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

. Sterling lost the election. Sterling was elected to the Sandy Springs City Council, taking office in 2011. In 2017, he did not run for reelection, and instead ran for the chair's seat on the Fulton County

Commission In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

. He finished in third place, behind Robb Pitts and Keisha Waites, both members of the Democratic Party.

Georgia Secretary of State's office

Georgia Secretary of State

Brad Raffensperger Bradford Jay Raffensperger (born May 18, 1955) is an American businessman, civil engineer, and politician serving as the Georgia Secretary of State, secretary of state of Georgia since 2019. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

appointed Sterling the COO of the Secretary of State's office after winning the 2018 election. He became an independent contractor in November 2019, and worked to roll out the use of new voting machines purchased from

Dominion Voting Systems Dominion Voting Systems Corporation is a North American company that produces and sells electronic voting hardware and software, including voting machines and tabulators, in Canada and the United States. The company's headquarters are in Toro ...

for the 2020 Georgia state elections. Sterling held a press conference in which he publicly rejected

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

's allegations of voter fraud after

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

won Georgia in the

2020 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 3, 2020. The Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and California junior senator Kamala H ...

, saying they were "all easily, provably false," and warned that statements by Trump and other leading Republicans would result in innocent people getting killed. Sterling testified in public hearings before the

United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack The United States House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol (commonly referred to as the January 6th Committee) was a Select or special committee (United States Congress), select committee of the ...

on June 21, 2022. During the hearing, Congressman

Adam Schiff Adam Bennett Schiff (born June 22, 1960) is an American lawyer, author, and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from California, a seat he has held since 2024. A m ...

( D- CA) played a recording of Sterling's remarks and asked him what had inspired them. Sterling replied that he had "lost it" after seeing a death threat against a Georgia elections worker written on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

QAnon QAnon ( ) is a far-right conspiracy theories in United States politics, American political conspiracy theory and political movement that originated in 2017. QAnon centers on fabricated claims made by an anonymous individual or individuals kno ...

supporters spreading the same conspiracy theories about the 2020 election that Trump was espousing, and decided to speak out against such misinformation.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sterling, Gabriel Living people People from Sandy Springs, Georgia Georgia (U.S. state) city council members Georgia (U.S. state) Republicans University of Georgia alumni 21st-century Georgia (U.S. state) politicians 1970 births People associated with the 2020 United States presidential election