Georgia’s Supreme Court races — long considered afterthoughts on the statewide ballot — are suddenly commanding the attention of heavyweights from both parties.
Gov. Brian Kemp and first lady Marty Kemp are headlining a joint fundraiser Thursday in Buckhead for incumbent Justices Charlie Bethel and Sarah Warren, injecting top-tier Republican star power into a contest that rarely attracts it. The event signals the GOP’s commitment to defending two experienced justices with established records on the bench.
On the other side, Democratic-aligned challengers Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin are rolling out a paid TV ad campaign and a statewide organizing operation that includes canvassing, phone banking, and press events in Atlanta and Savannah. The ad features Jordan and Rankin in a courtroom setting designed to cast the race as a clash between ordinary Georgians and entrenched power. “These guys have enough friends on the Supreme Court,” Rankin says in the spot. Jordan closes with a direct appeal: “We’ll fight for you.”
Democrats are leaning hard into two issues: corporate influence on the court and abortion rights. Planned events include an appearance by the mother of Amber Thurman outside the former Savannah Medical Clinic — a reference to the political debate surrounding Georgia’s six-week abortion law, which was upheld by the court.
The Democratic establishment is fully engaged. At the party’s Carter-Lewis Dinner last weekend, U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear both urged activists to prioritize the Supreme Court races — an unusual level of attention for judicial contests.
Justices Bethel and Warren, backed by the Republican establishment and the Kemp fundraising machine, enter the final stretch with institutional support and name recognition from their time on Georgia’s highest court. (RELATED: Ossoff Raises $14 Million But Three Well-Funded Republicans Are Closing The Gap)
With early voting approaching and both sides spending, what was once a sleepy down-ballot race is now a genuine battleground. (RELATED: Georgia Ag Launches Private Sector Campaign To Locate Missing Children And Combat Trafficking)
