ATLANTA – Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, the Georgia prosecutor who brought a sweeping racketeering case against former President Donald Trump and others, has won the Democratic primary in her bid for reelection.
Willis defeated progressive lawyer Christian Wise Smith in the primary election and will now face Republican Courtney Kramer in the fall. Willis told reporters after his victory that voters sent a message that “people want a prosecutor who is fair, who treats everyone equally and who works hard, and they know they have that in me.”
Meanwhile, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, the judge who was randomly assigned to preside over the election interference case, also fended off a challenger, winning a nonpartisan election to keep his seat.
Trump’s election case and racketeering cases against well-known rappers have raised Willis’ public profile. But on Tuesday night she praised her efforts to combat violent crime by being tough on gang members, while also saying she worked to give second chances to first offenders and created programs to catch at-risk youth before they are caught. in the criminal justice system.
“The people said yes to justice. People said yes to security. The people said yes to integrity. People said yes to Fani Willis,” Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said to applause Tuesday night at Willis’ victory party.
With his name recognition, the perks of the office, and a large fundraising haul, Willis’ primary victory wasn’t too surprising. As she heads into the general election, the odds also appear to be in her favor. Fulton County includes most of the city of Atlanta and is heavily Democratic, with about 73% of its voters voting for President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
But Willis took nothing for granted after his primary victory, telling his supporters: “The campaign doesn’t end tonight. It starts tonight.
“My opponent is completely unqualified,” she said, later adding, “But although she is inexperienced and unqualified and does not represent the values of my county, do not be confused. She is a real threat because of who supports her and how they support her.”
Willis asked her supporters to continue supporting her financially, noting that there was a store selling campaign merchandise on site during her victory party.
Kramer, who has ties to some of Trump’s most prominent allies in Georgia and has received campaign contributions from the county and state Republican parties, told reporters when she qualified to run that Trump’s accusation led her to challenge Willis. In a post on social media platform It’s time to change.”
McAfee has been on the bench since last year, when Republican Gov. Brian Kemp appointed him to fill a vacancy. He has since become one of the highest-profile judges in Georgia since he was randomly assigned last year to preside over the election interference case. With the added perks of office, strong bipartisan support from big names, and impressive fundraising, he was the likely favorite to win.
Willis and Smith worked in the Fulton County District Attorney’s office under then-District Attorney Paul Howard. Both challenged their former boss in the 2020 Democratic primary. Willis and Howard advanced to a runoff that she won, and she ran unopposed in that year’s November general election.
Kramer ran unopposed in Tuesday’s Republican primary and has already focused his attention on attacking Willis. A lawyer who interned in the Trump White House, she has ties to some of the former president’s prominent allies in Georgia.
Kramer and her supporters will no doubt continue to focus on what even some of Willis’ closest allies considered a major misstep — her romantic relationship with a special prosecutor she hired for the election case. Claims by defense lawyers in the case that the romance created a conflict of interest threatened to derail the prosecution.
McAfee ultimately ruled that this did not create a conflict of interest that should disqualify Willis, but said she could only continue the case if the special prosecutor, Nathan Wade, stepped aside. Wade promptly dropped the case, but a defense appeal of McAfee’s decision is now pending in the Georgia Court of Appeals.
Wade was among those gathered at an event space in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood on Tuesday night to celebrate Willis’ victory.
Willis obtained an indictment in August against Trump and 18 others, accusing them of participating in an alleged illegal scheme to overturn Trump’s narrow 2020 presidential election defeat in Georgia. Four people pleaded guilty after reaching deals with prosecutors. Trump and the remaining 14 have pleaded not guilty.
