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Meanwhile, attorney Courtney Kramer has filed papers to run for Republican Congress. She worked as a litigation consultant for Trump’s legal team after the 2020 election, helping state Republicans and the Georgia Republican Party handle other election-related matters.
Willis is the strong favorite to win. Fulton County is a Democratic stronghold, and she is one of the most famous politicians in the state, if not the nation. She took advantage of her incumbency to accumulate a small fortune in her campaign account.
But Wise-Smith and Kramer have been unable to resolve her extortion case, which accused Trump and 18 others of conspiring to overturn President Joe Biden’s narrow 2020 Georgia victory. Trying to turn the campaign into a proxy contest could still give her political headaches.
And the personal relationship between Ms. Willis and special counsel Nathan Wade could come under even greater scrutiny, a relationship that could be linked to efforts by Mr. Trump and several of his co-defendants to remove her from the case. It is the center of
Wise Smith received approximately 23% of the Democratic vote in the Fulton DA’s 2020 primary. He ran on a platform that included pledges to no longer seek the death penalty, end cash bail and decriminalize drug possession.
He continued to support District Attorney Paul Howard in the runoff, saying he took particular issue with Willis’ support from the Atlanta police union. Willis easily defeated six-term incumbent Howard in a head-to-head runoff election.
Wise-Smith told the AJC on Friday that he is still “considering options” on how vigorously to pursue this challenge and will decide whether a more concerted campaign is needed. Earlier, he hinted that he might wait for the results of the disqualification effort.
“It’s a necessary first step. If you don’t take that step, you can’t run. But a large part of how we move forward will be determined by the outcome of this case,” he said in an interview. , declined further comment on Willis.
“At the end of the day, I want what’s best for Fulton County.”
He will likely try to paint Willis as too conservative in the primary. In 2020, he championed a “restorative justice” approach to criminal justice that emphasizes alternatives to incarceration, such as accountability courts to treat substance abuse and mental illness.
Two years later, Wise Smith lost in the Democratic primary for attorney general to then-state Sen. Jen Jordan, who won her party’s nomination with more than 77 percent of the vote.
Republicans were actively seeking a candidate to challenge Mr. Willis, just to put Democrats on the defensive. After Kramer’s certification Friday, Georgia Republican Party Chairman Josh McCoon said he would end “blatant political prosecutions” of the former president and his supporters.
Mr. Kramer appears to have a history with Trump supporters. Records show that in her capacity as an election lawyer, she previously worked with two defendants in election interference cases, former state Republican Party Chairman David Shafer and attorney Ray Smith. . She is a former law school classmate and is now a law professor at Penn State. surfaced A photo on social media shows Cramer in the background of the room where Georgia Republicans cast their electoral votes for Trump in December 2020.
Mr. Kramer told reporters Friday that Mr. Willis had turned the prosecutor’s office into a “clown show.”
“The moment she decided to indict President Trump and the other 18 defendants was the moment I said enough is enough,” Cramer said. “The resources used in that investigation could have been used for many other things and would have been more beneficial to the residents of Fulton County.”
Willis is one of the key figures in the case, which faces voting challenges this year. Fulton Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee drew dissent from Robert Pattillo, a civil rights attorney and talk radio host, and Tiffany Johnson, senior staff attorney for Fulton County’s Atlanta Judicial Circuit Court judge.
Pattillo, former executive director of the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s civil rights group Rainbow Push Coalition, was put on the bench by Willis’ allies to pressure her to rule disqualifying her in the Trump case. He refuted speculation that he was called to do so. Mr. Pattillo said he had been considering running for office before Mr. McAfee was appointed and that he “didn’t particularly get along” with Mr. Willis while he was competing with Mr. Willis as defense attorney.
“I want people to look at my record, not my race, when judging my motivations for running,” he told WSB Radio’s Shelley Winter on Wednesday.
The next day, McAfee said in a conversation with the same radio host that he would not let any outside pressure influence his decision on whether to remove Willis and his firm from Trump’s case. .
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
“No job is worth my integrity,” he said. “I have two kids, ages 5 and 3. They’re too young so they have no idea what’s going on or what I’m doing. But one day I’ll look forward to it. The thing is, maybe they’ll grow up a little bit and ask me about it. I’ll look them in the eye and tell them they played it straight and did the best they could. I’m looking forward to.”
Judicial elections are nonpartisan. The fact that there are three candidates makes it more likely that the contest will go to a runoff in mid-June.
Meanwhile, Willis told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution earlier this week that he was not concerned about the possibility of a political challenger.
“The country we live in is a democracy, so people have the right to stand for election. But they should be prepared for a fight,” she said. “They should know that my heart is still in this work. My heart will always be in this work.”
Staff writer Michelle Baruchman contributed to this report.
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