Fani Willis, the Georgia prosecutor who brought the election case against Trump, faces a rare Republican challenger

ATLANTA (AP) – Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, the Democratic Georgia prosecutor who brought the case allegations against former President Donald Trump amid efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, he faces a rare challenger from the Republican Party in his bid for re-election in the state’s most populous county.

Courtney Kramer, a lawyer who interned in the White House counsel’s office under Trump, said she wants to make sure the office is transparent and accountable. But Willis who he easily fended off the challenge from the left in the May Democratic primary told the Associated Press she was confident she would win.

“He’s going to lose, and he’s going to lose badly,” Willis said of Kramer. Willis said voters should give her an extra 4 years due to her record in office, including the pre-indictment diversion program she began and a program in schools encouraging students to decide on alternatives to gangs and crime, in addition to reducing the variety of homicides and the backlog of unindicted cases.

Fulton County, home to about 11% of the state’s electorate, is a Democratic stronghold where no Republican has even run for district attorney since 2000. Willis has raised $2.1 million in comparison with Kramer’s $278,000 and is the clear favorite.

Kramer, 31, who grew up in Fulton County and knows the political landscape, has visited Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, posted photos of herself on Instagram with a who’s who of MAGA celebrities and claims to be a lot of his staunchest allies former president in Georgia as friends. But she says that shouldn’t stop anyone – even Democrats – from voting for her.

Her mantra during the campaign was: “It’s not about right versus left, it’s about good versus evil.”

Willis, 53, became district attorney in January 2021 and rose to national prominence a month later when she announced that it’s investigating whether Trump and others broke any laws in attempting to offset a narrow 2020 presidential election loss in the state to Democrat Joe Biden. In August 2023, she received a sweeping racketeering indictment against Trump and 18 others.

She worked for 17 years in the office she now runs under her predecessor, Paul Howard, after which worked as a justice of the peace and as a defense attorney. She defeated Howard w fierce Democratic primary fight in 2020

Featured Stories

She would love to serve three terms as district attorney after which begin teaching at her alma mater, Howard University in Washington, D.C., she told the AP. She established a domestic violence enforcement division and said that if elected to a second term, she plans to concentrate on creating more district resources for victims of those crimes.

Trump’s cause has gained fans amongst Democrats across the country, making it a goal for the former president and his allies. She is criticized by friends and foes alike for… romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, hired a special prosecutor lead the case. The presiding judge scolded her for her “massive lapses in judgment.” AND pre-trial appeal With judge’s ruling enabling her to proceed her prosecution successfully stopped himfrustrating some Democrats who had hoped the case against the Republican presidential nominee would go to trial before the general election.

Kramer said when she entered the race for the position of district attorney in March, when Trump’s indictment prompted her to run, accusing Willis of pursuing the case for private political gain. While some speculate that Kramer intends to dismiss the case, she has said she would recuse herself if elected because she served in the Trump White House and worked with two other defendants, attorney Ray Smith and former state Republican Party chairman David Shafer.

Some progressive Democrats and advocates are irritated by Willis’ tough-on-crime approach, saying she is abusing gang and racketeering laws by unnecessarily complicating cases as a way to obtain higher penalties. A famous example is accusation of rapper Young Thug and others. The prosecutor’s case dragged on for nearly a yr, with dozens of witnesses still to be called, and a judge recently suggested that the prosecutor’s office had demonstrated “really poor legal service.”

Kramer stated that she would dismiss the case, arguing that it was mismanaged and a waste of resources.

Willis, known for insurrection in the face of threat AND fiery reactions to criticsshe declined to debate specific cases but dismissed Kramer’s criticism, calling her opponent ignorant and “totally unqualified.”

“She has never handled any case. She never practiced criminal law,” Willis said. “She’s just a right-wing politician trying to play right-wing politics.”

Kramer was extremely lively in Republican political organizations. In December 2020, she became a lawyer and helped with Trump’s election criticism. She said her law practice has focused on civil litigation over the past few years.

While admitting that she had no law enforcement or management experience, she stated that she had good decision-making and leadership skills. She said she would ensure transparency of the office’s funds and work to wrap up the cases quickly. When asked several times about specific policies and goals, she stated that she would must wait until she took office before making a decision.

Kramer criticized Willis, like many others, for overcrowding at the Fulton County Main Jail, saying people were languishing there while their cases went uncharged, and in addition said violent crimes had increased under Willis.

But since Willis took office, most violent crime has declined in the largest cities under her jurisdiction. According to police data, there have been 157 homicides in Atlanta in 2020, up from 135 last yr, and this yr’s numbers are 13% lower than last yr. Robberies and aggravated assaults have also fallen, and rapes have been steadily declining but have increased this yr.

Fulton County’s fundamental jail stays suffering from problemsbut overcrowding in the county system has improved. Three days before Trump was impeached, 3,571 people were in county jails and 1,683, or 47%, had not been indicted. As of Friday, 2,584 people were in custody, of whom 638, or 25%, had not been charged.