Voters to decide whether prosecutor and judge in Georgia Trump election case keep their jobs

ATLANTA (AP) — Voters will decide whether two key players in the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump will keep their jobs.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee are both on the ballot for Tuesday’s election. Willis is the prosecutor who last year obtained a sprawling racketeering indictment against Trump and 18 others, and McAfee is the judge who was randomly assigned to preside over the case.

Willis has a single challenger in the Democratic primary and, if she wins, will face off against a Republican candidate in the fall. McAfee has one opponent — after a second was disqualified — in a nonpartisan contest that will be the final word on whether he gets to keep his seat.

The intense public interest in the election case has thrust both Willis and McAfee into the national spotlight, giving them greater name recognition than occupants of their offices might otherwise have. That, along with the advantages of incumbency and fundraising hauls that have far surpassed their challengers, could give each of them an edge on Tuesday.

Whether they win or lose, Willis and McAfee will remain in office through the end of this year, when their current terms expire. If either ends up getting ousted from office, it could further slow the election interference case, which has already been delayed by attempts to remove Willis from the prosecution.

Willis and her progressive Democratic opponent, Christian Wise Smith, both worked in the Fulton County district attorney’s office under then-District Attorney Paul Howard. They both challenged their former boss in the Democratic primary in 2020. Willis and Howard advanced to a runoff that she won, and she ran unopposed