Fani Willis, judge in Trump’s Georgia election case face primaries

(ATLANTA) — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Judge Scott McAfee will face voters on Tuesday during the state’s primary election — both of whom have been key players in the election interference case against former President Donald Trump and his allies.

Willis will face off against Atlanta attorney Christian Wise Smith in the Democratic primary; McAfee will go up against attorney Robert Patillo in a nonpartisan election.

If either Willis or McAfee loses their primary and is booted from the job, the election interference case could be further delayed. The case has already faced delays over efforts to remove Willis from the prosecution.

If Willis wins Tuesday, she’ll face Republican lawyer Courtney Kramer in the general election. Kramer previously worked in the Trump White House and on his campaign.

During an appearance on the “Rachel Maddow Show,” Willis said she plans to “win big” in her primary, framing her election around a rebuke against the threats she has faced since taking office.

“Having prosecutors that are free from interference and are allowed to just look at cases, look at the facts, and if people … broke the law to bring charges, has to go on for us to live in a free society,” said Willis.

Willis’ election comes as Nathan Wade, the lead prosecutor in the Fulton County case, resigned after Judge McAfee ruled that either she or Wade must step aside from the case due to a “significant appearance of impropriety” stemming from a romantic relationship between the two. The Georgia Court of Appeals has since agreed to review the disqualification ruling, delaying the trial further.

McAfee, who is overseeing the racketeering case against Donald Trump and 14 others, is also on the ballot in a nonpartisan election.

McAfee’s election bid comes after he was appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp in 2022. He’s now running for his first full term. He is up against Patillo.

McAfee’s campaign website bills him as someone who has “devoted his career to public service” as a prosecutor, and someone who “has pledged to be fully transparent with all public matters that come before him.”

Georgia’s election on Tuesday does not include a presidential primary — that happened in March, and President Joe Biden and Trump won their respective primaries in the state.

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