Progressive prosecutors in Georgia faced backlash from the start. They say it’s all politics.

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Two Georgia district attorneys who promised criminal justice reforms are facing reelection races that will test whether progressive prosecutors in liberal pockets of the swing state can survive intense blowback from state Republicans and some prominent local Democrats.

Shalena Cook Jones of Chatham County and Deborah Gonzalez of Athens-Clarke and Oconee counties were elected in 2020 in the wake of nationwide protests against racial injustice. They, like dozens of other progressive prosecutors elected to office over the past decade, promised a holistic approach to prosecuting that offers diversion programs, rehabilitation and shorter sentences for nonviolent offenders.

Cook Jones and Gonzalez say the criticism is political and misleading. But opponents say they have led dysfunctional offices that let people convicted of violent crimes off the hook. Among their critics are Democrats including Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz and Savannah Mayor Van Johnson, a former police officer.

Pushback against progressive prosecutors is not new: Republicans in Texas, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Missouri and Florida have tried to remove those who they disparagingly call “woke prosecutors.” In Georgia, Republicans frustrated with Gonzalez passed legislation to discipline and remove prosecutors if they fall afoul of a newly created commission.

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