Georgia
Georgia’s Supreme Court election: What to know ahead of the primary
Another Georgia election is right around the corner, and thanks to early voting, many residents have already cast their ballot. While partisan politics generally takes up the most airtime, one nonpartisan race has begun to make headlines this year: the battle over a state Supreme Court seat.
Though they are often much quieter than their partisan counterparts, judicial elections nonetheless play a crucial role in the lives of Georgia residents. Here’s what you need to know about this year’s judicial elections.
When are the next Georgia judicial elections?
Nonpartisan elections will be held as part of the Georgia state primary on Tuesday, May 21. Voters should check their My Voter Page at https://mvp.sos.ga.gov/s/ to view the most up-to-date information about their registration status, polling locations, and sample ballots.
Who is running for the Georgia Supreme Court in 2024?
Four sitting justices, John Ellington, Nels Peterson, Andrew Pinson and Chief Justice Michael P. Boggs are currently running for re-election. The newest member of the court, Andrew Pinson, is currently being challenged by former Democratic Congressman John Barrow.
Barrow recently made headlines by openly centering abortion rights in his Georgia Supreme Court campaign — a tactic that has made him the subject of an ethics complaint due to a state law that urges judicial candidates to “not make statements or promises that commit the candidate with respect to issues likely to come before the court that are inconsistent with the impartial performance of the adjudicative duties of judicial office.”
More: Mark your calendars: Here is every date you need to know to vote in Georgia in 2024
Barrow defended his position at the Atlanta Press Club Debates in April.
“Partiality has nothing to do with your opinions about the law,” he said. “As the root word implies, it entails feelings about the parties, being in favor of one party or another. The United States Supreme Court explained this a good while back when they said ‘impartiality,’ of the sort that judges should strive for, means you’re not going to favor one party over another.”
“Every person who’s expected to be a judge has to have strong feelings about the law,” Barrow continued. “If he doesn’t, he’s not qualified to serve on the court.”
Barrow filed a lawsuit in federal court in response to the complaint, arguing that it impedes his First Amendment right to free speech, but a judge has yet to issue a ruling.
Georgia elections: Important dates, how to register, and what to know ahead of 2024
What types of cases does the Georgia Supreme Court hear?
The Georgia Supreme Court is the highest judicial power in the state, and thus will review decisions in both civil and criminal cases made by lower courts across the state. The court has appellate jurisdiction over a wide variety of cases, including:
- Constitutionality cases
- Election contests
- Cases involving title to land, divorce, wills or equity
- Death sentence appeals
- Habeas corpus (unlawful detention) cases
- All cases involving extraordinary remedies
The nine justices will typically hear cases en banc, and assign one justice to write the court opinion. In order for a lower court decision to be overturned or reversed, at least five justices must concur.
How do Supreme Court elections work?
Unlike seats in the legislative or executive branch, justices on the supreme court are elected through a nonpartisan election process, and serve six-year terms. This year, four of the nine justices are running for re-election, with only one justice facing a primary challenger.
Although Supreme Court justices in Georgia are elected via popular vote, there is rarely an open seat on the court; new justices are almost always appointed by the governor to finish out their successor’s term, and will then run as an incumbent in the next election.
Though partisan politics don’t necessarily play a role in judicial campaigns, the overall composition of the court skews conservative. Out of the nine sitting justices, eight were appointed by Republican governors, including Pinson. The other was appointed to a state appellate court by a Democratic governor, and later won his seat unopposed.
Georgia
Georgia NAACP calling on state to help during ‘unprecedented’ demand for food
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – As a U.S. District court awaits response from the executive branch on how they plan to at least partially fund SNAP, the Atlanta Community Food Bank told Atlanta News First they are dealing with “unprecedented” demand.
CEO Kyle Waide said they are currently serving around 250,000 families a month and expect that number to increase.
“Demand was already high before the shutdown,” Waide said. “We have not seen this kind of confluence of really dramatic demand that is part of the economic picture, plus a disruption created by the shutdown, plus a lot of pressure on our resources, all happening at the same time.”
Waide said the shutdown is putting pressure on their inventory. Their partner food pantries are busier than ever.
“I think it’s admirable that they’re stepping up,” Georgia NAACP President Gerald Griggs said. “I’m glad that non-profit organizations are stepping up, but this is why we pay our taxes.”
Griggs believes the onus is on Gov. Brian Kemp and the General Assembly.
“This is one of those situations where state and local have to act because the federal government has abdicated its responsibility to Georgians,” he said.
Griggs wants Georgia to dip into its $14 billion surplus to temporarily fund SNAP.
The governor said he won’t do that because the state wouldn’t be reimbursed for that money.
Kemp, who blames Democrats, said the one and only viable solution is to reopen the government.
“We’re hopeful that they’ll find a way to get the government open soon. In the meantime, we’re going to do everything we can to put our arms around the neighbors who need us,” Waide told Atlanta News First.
Waide said the best way you can help the food bank is by replenishing their reserve funding with a financial contribution.
Copyright 2025 WANF. All rights reserved.
Georgia
Everything From Brent Key After Georgia Tech’s 48-36 Loss to NC State
Georgia Tech is undefeated no more.
The Yellow Jackets took their first loss of the season tonight when they dropped a 48-36 shootout to NC State. Georgia Tech could not find a way to get a stop, giving up nearly 600 yards of offense in the loss.
After the game, Yellow Jackets head coach Brent Key spoke with the media and here is everything that he had to say:
“Congrats to a well -played game by Dave and his team. They lined up and physically kicked our ass in a lot of ways. It is what it is. That’s on me, right? I’ll take responsibility for it, right? We’re going into a bye-week this week, and we’ve got work to do. We have three games remaining, and everything that we have wanted to do is still in front of us. It’s our choice and our decision, right, how we respond to this outcome.”
“Yeah, I mean, I could say a lot of things right now. But at the end of the day, like I said, we’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve got to get corrected. Yeah, I mean, we’ve got to be able to take something away. You know, and, you know, I mean, they had, what, 200, you know, when Duke Scott had a great game, 243, yeah. So we weren’t taking the run away, you know, The noticeable thing, you know, there were a lot of hidden yardage in there that two yards, five yards, four yards that were, you know, missed tackles, you know, getting knocked back. But then, like I said, we’ve got to improve, and we will. I won’t make the excuses.”
“No, look, you know, it’s, first off, I don’t know if we put enough gas in the gas tank. I mean, that was, if you want to talk about that, but no, it’s, uh, there’s no excuses, Chad. There’s not. We have guys, you know, whether if the guys down, someone else has to step up and then they have to make plays. And, uh, well, you got to finish blocks. You got to, uh, you got to get off blocks. You got to run. You got to catch. All in all, uh, you don’t, uh, you don’t, you don’t have to so all in all, you don’t win with one phase of the game. You don’t lose with one phase of the game. When you win and you play complimentary football, same thing here. I mean, all three phases, we’ve got to improve. We’ve got to correct mistakes, and then we’ve got to.”
“Yeah, I mean, they scored. So obviously it was the execution, but it was really flipped. I mean, we weren’t consistent enough in the red zone. We had, you get the ball down to the one -yard line. You got to go to put it in offensively. You know, and those mistakes were self -defeating mistakes. So then on the defensive We, you know, they, they push us around, right? And that’s why I said, we got our butts kicked and that’s what you look at. And they’re able to run it in like that, down in their type, you know, or a, you know, second and seven to third and four to first down, you know, those types of plays, you know, we’ve got to do a lot better job. I’ve got to do a lot better job. All right?”
“Yeah, I mean, obviously, when you come off the field after a loss, I mean, no one’s happy. And he’s dejected as anybody. But I looked at the, you know, statistically what he did. I mean, statistically had a good game. But Haynes King doesn’t care about that. Haynes King, he’s a winner, he wants to win.”
“You know, we’re sitting in there wanting to take the clock down, right? And, you know, we’re getting that long situation. And then we get a sack right there, right? Yeah, it was a sack. Had a sack, got a little of it back, got in the field goal range for a long field goal. Missed field goal left a minute and the clock. Yeah, I mean, you know, middle eight was factors.”
“Yeah, he got banged up. I don’t know the status I’ll know after the game. Or when we get back in there.”
“Yeah, we’re always looking at what we’re not doing well, what can be better, and looking to be a better version of ourselves the next week. And we didn’t do that this week. We’ve got a bye week to do that to improve. And every area of the program, you know, that’s looked at every Sunday. That’s no different than what we would normally do and that I would normally do”
“yeah it was 8:25 left, yeah it’s 8:25 left that’s you know was, Yeah, you’re in a two score game. You got a, if you go for it, what do we end up on the minus? Yeah, we got like five yards. We got a minus one on the first play, and then I think we got six yard gain, five or six yard gain on it. On the third down play, you know, if you go for it and don’t get it, now you’re really, it’s out of control. Punt it back. You got all three timeouts. You don’t start using the timeouts until you know you’re five minutes and you know if we get a stop there, a chance to get the ball back. But you got it. I would not, I don’t second guess that one bit. Not one bit. You know, and look, there’s a lot of it. When you make those decisions too, or how you’re moving the football, you know, and going in waves with how you’re moving it. And right then we had a couple pressures on the two, on the second, the third down play.”
Georgia
Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks addresses his name connected to LSU AD opening
It didn’t take long after LSU followed up the firing of football coach Brian Kelly with athletic director Scott Woodward exiting for Georgia’s Josh Brooks to be connected to the AD opening.
Brooks name was bandied about to replace Woodward.
It made sense considering that Brooks is a native of Hammond, La., graduated from LSU in 2002 and worked at LSU and Louisiana-Monroe.
Brooks, hired as Georgia athletic director in January of 2021, took to social media on Friday evening Oct. 31 to put to bed any chatter he may be going back to LSU.
Brooks said he wanted to address the “speculation” directly.
“I have not been contacted by anyone at LSU, and more importantly, I have no interest in any other job,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “My focus remains on the University of Georgia, our student-athletes, coaches, staff and fans.”
LSU’s AD job and its football opening both may have become less desirable after Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said this week before the school and Woodward parted ways that Woodward would not be making the hire to replace Kelly.
LSU also does not currently have a school president, but a hire is expected next week.
Brooks in his post mentioned not only that he’s “fortunate” to work with school president Jere Morehead, but also Georgia governor Brian Kemp and the Board of Regents.
“This is home to me, and I’m honored to play a part in the incredible progress we’ve made,” he said. “The best days for Georgia Athletics are still ahead, and I look forward to continuing to build on the championships standard we’ve established here in Athens.”
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