Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has enacted legislation that will eliminate party identification from local elections across the Atlanta region’s five largest counties, prompting Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and a fellow Democratic prosecutor to announce plans for a constitutional legal challenge.
The governor quietly signed the legislation on Tuesday, which marked the deadline for action on bills from Georgia’s 2026 legislative session.
GOP lawmakers have consistently criticized Willis due to her criminal case against Republican President Donald Trump, stemming from his efforts to reverse Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in Georgia.
Both Willis and DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston declared the legislation unconstitutional under Georgia’s state constitution and committed to filing suit.
“This is a blatant attempt by Republicans to give their candidates an edge in Democratic counties by hiding their party affiliation from voters,” the two Democrats said in a statement Tuesday.
Republican State Senator John Albers from Roswell, who championed the legislation, argued during legislative debates that the measure would enhance public safety. County sheriffs will remain exempt from the nonpartisan requirement when the law takes effect in 2028.
The legislation emerges as Democratic candidates have increasingly defeated Republican incumbents throughout Atlanta’s core counties in this pivotal swing state. The new system will shift elections for most affected positions to May, coinciding with nonpartisan judicial races. This timing typically produces lower voter participation compared to November elections, with turnout primarily influenced by concurrent partisan primary contests. Candidates failing to secure majority support would face nonpartisan runoff elections in June.
The requirements will apply across Fulton County, encompassing most of Atlanta, along with the surrounding Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb and Gwinnett counties. Fulton, DeKalb and Clayton represent the state’s three strongest Democratic strongholds. Meanwhile, Cobb and Gwinnett, historically reliable Republican suburban territories, have increasingly supported Democratic candidates since 2016.
Democratic officials contend that Republicans aim to improve GOP candidates’ electoral prospects by removing party identification in Democratic-leaning areas. Opposition voices question why such policy changes target only urban Atlanta rather than applying across all 159 Georgia counties.
Willis and Boston suggested that Republicans specifically targeted these counties because voters in each have elected Black women as district attorneys.
Republican legislators have advanced numerous measures in recent years aimed at district attorneys, with Willis receiving particular focus. The district attorneys’ professional association maintains that the legislation cannot alter the partisan nature of prosecutor elections, arguing these officials serve as state judicial branch positions rather than county roles.
The association contends that modifying this structure requires a state constitutional amendment. Such changes would face Democratic opposition since proposing constitutional amendments to Georgia voters requires two-thirds approval in the General Assembly.
