'Chicken': Why a conservative Georgia Supreme Court justice faces toughest reelection in 2 centuries

Like Virginia and Arizona, Georgia was a deep red state for many years but has evolved into a swing state. Georgia's political volatility was evident in the 2022 midterms, which found voters reelecting conservative Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and GOP Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger as well as liberal Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock.

President Joe Biden won Georgia in 2020, yet a poll conducted by The Hill and Emerson College and released in late April showed presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump leading Biden by 3 percent in the 2024 presidential race.

Another race that will be closely watched outside of the Peach State is a battle for a seat on the Georgia Supreme Court, where Justice Andrew Pinson, a conservative Republican, is facing an aggressive challenge from a Democrat: former Rep. John Barrow.

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Barrow, according to Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) reporters Greg Bluestein and Rosie Manins, is forcefully attacking Pinson — a former clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas — on the abortion issue.

At a Democratic event in Fulton County, Georgia (which includes Atlanta), Barrow declared, "I'm running because I believe that women have the same rights today under our state constitution that they used to have under Roe v. Wade.”

Barrow, a scathing critic of Georgia's anti-abortion law, told the crowd, "It's the most important decision the Supreme Court of Georgia is going to make in the next 20 years. Politicians shouldn't be making your personal health care decisions."

Bluestein and Manins stress that if Pinson loses to Barrow, it will be the first time in generations that an incumbent justice has been voted off the Georgia Supreme Court.

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The Democratic ex-congressman has a highly combative tone, saying of Pinson, "The only thing worse than his record is that he’s too chicken to come here and stick up for himself."

With the abortion issue, this Georgia race recalls a state supreme court competition in another key swing state: Wisconsin, where liberal now-Justice Janet Protasiewicz went up against far-right MAGA Republican Daniel Kelly in 2023.

Protasiewicz forcefully campaigned on abortion rights, attacking Kelly in much the same way that Barrow is now attacking Pinson in Georgia — and defeated Kelly by double digits.

Bluestein and Manins note, "Mack Parnell of the Georgia Faith and Freedom Coalition plans to distribute thousands of flyers to conservative voters next week highlighting Barrow's abortion rights stance. He's called Barrow an 'activist trying to become a judge' to advance a political agenda."

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Read the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's full report at this link.