Fannie Willis and the judge presiding over Trump’s election interference case defeat challenger in election | Wilnesh News

Two key figures in Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump defeat challengers Tuesday’s election.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee both won. Willis was the prosecutor who secured a massive racketeering indictment against Trump and 18 others last year, and McPhee was the judge randomly assigned to preside over the case.

Willis defeated progressive attorney Christian Wise Smith in the Democratic primary and will now face Republican Courtney Cramer in the fall. McPhee won a nonpartisan race, which means he will complete a four-year term starting in January.

Intense public interest in the election cases thrust Willis and McAfee into the national spotlight, giving them greater visibility than those in office.

Willis’ victory in the primary was no surprise due to his high profile, tenure and huge fundraising. As she heads into the general election, the odds also appear to be in Willis’ favor. Fulton County, which includes most of the city of Atlanta, is majority Democratic, with about 73% of voters voting for President Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

Cramer has ties to some of Trump’s most important allies in Georgia and has received campaign donations from county and state Republicans. When she qualified for the race, she told reporters that Trump’s indictment prompted her to challenge Willis. . Earlier this month, she posted on the social platform

McPhee has been on the bench since Republican Gov. Brian Kemp appointed him to fill the vacancy last year. He has become one of Georgia’s most high-profile judges since being randomly assigned to preside over election interference cases last year. With the added advantage of an incumbent, strong bipartisan support from heavyweights and impressive fundraising, he’s likely the favorite to win.

Willis and Smith both worked in the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office under then-District Attorney Paul Howard. They are all challenging their former bosses 2020 Democratic primaries. willis and Howard advances to finals She won and ran unopposed in the general election that November.

Cramer, who is running unopposed in Tuesday’s Republican primary, has focused her attention on attacking Willis. She is a lawyer who interned in the Trump White House and has ties to some of the former president’s key allies in Georgia.

While the Trump election case and racketeering cases against high-profile rappers have boosted Willis’s public profile, her campaign has focused on reducing the staggering backlog of cases that existed when she took office, combating gang violence and raising awareness among at-risk youth. He was arrested before.

She entered into a romantic relationship with a special prosecutor hired for the election case, which even some of her closest allies considered a major misstep. Defense lawyers in the case claimed the relationship created a conflict of interest that could derail the prosecution.

McPhee ultimately ruled that it did not create a conflict of interest that should disqualify Willis, but he said she could only continue the case if special counsel Nathan Wade stepped aside. Wade immediately left the case, but a defense appeal of McPhee’s ruling is currently pending before the Georgia Court of Appeals.

Wade and others gathered Tuesday night at an event space in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood to celebrate Willis’ victory.

In just over a year on the bench, the election case has made McPhee one of the better-known judges in Georgia. He previously served as a federal and state prosecutor and as a state inspector general. He was appointed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp to fill the vacant seat and has campaigned aggressively in recent weeks to win a full four-year term. His campaign has received support from heavyweights in both parties, including Kemp and Democratic former Gov. Roy Barnes.