[5][6] In 2008, Burkhalter served on the Platform Committee of the Republican National Convention and was a leader for Governor Mitt Romney's Presidential campaign in Georgia.
Prior to his state congressional tenure, Burkhalter served as an intern on the legislative staff to U.S. Representative Newt Gingrich in Washington, D.C.[7] In 1994, while Burkhalter was campaign chairman for then-Fulton County, Georgia, Commission Chairman Mitch Skandalakis, he was involved in creating campaign fliers which depicted Gordon Joyner, an African-American politician running for a seat on the county commission, in a racist manner: Joyner's features were darkened, and he was photoshopped to have a large Afro, an enlarged lip, and a warped eye.
The libel lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed sum in October 1995, and Skandalakis, Burkhalter and other officials signed a letter of apology to Joyner in which they took "full responsibility" for the flyer.
[8] The signed apology says the flier “contained a distorted photograph of you and inaccurate statements regarding you and attributed to you.”[9] The flier sparked a controversy when it was released, with a 1995 editorial in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution calling it a “racist hit piece.” Court filings says that during a meeting Burkhalter attended before the flier was created, attendees discussed that “white voters in North Fulton County were unaware that Gordon Joyner is black.” The lawsuit said that "Defendants mailed the cards bearing the false pictures captioned 'Gordon Joyner' primarily to white voters residing in the northern part of Fulton County, for the purpose of instilling and inciting racial fears and prejudices on the part of those voters.
[14] Dentons told CNN that Burkhalter resigned effective June 30, 2020, two days before the first media reports about his role in the racist ad controversy.