Four seats on the Supreme Court of Georgia were being up for election to a six-year term on May 21. Of these four, only the seat held by Andrew Pinson was contested by former Democratic U.S. House member John Barrow. Justices Michael Boggs, John Ellington and Nels Peterson were unopposed for re-election.
Seven seats on the Georgia Court of Appeals were being up for election on May 21, of these seven, only the seat held by justice M. Yvette Miller, (who decided not to run for re-election)[1] was contested between Jeff Davis and Tabitha Ponder.[2] Justices Stephen Dillard, Ken Hodges, Benjamin Land, Amanda Mercier, Brian Rickman, and Jeffrey Watkins were unopposed for re-election.
Since 1896, justices on the Supreme Court and judges on the Court of Appeals have been directly elected in statewide elections. Judicial elections were made non-partisan in 1983. Elections for nonpartisan state judgeships have been held on the date of the legislative primary since 2012, and were previously held on the general election ballot in November during even-numbered years.
Justice M. Yvette Miller, who was appointed in 1999 by Democratic Governor Roy Barnes retired, which made the seat open.[3] Conservative candidate Jeff Davis defeated liberal candidate Tabitha Ponder with 57.0% of the vote.[4]
Pinson performed very well statewide, most notably in Metro Atlanta, while Barrow performed well in Georgia's 12th congressional district, where he used to represent in the House of Representatives. Despite the margin, the result was the most competitive two-way election for Supreme Court since 2020, when incumbent Charlie Bethel defeated Beth Beskin 52.2 to 47.8, as well as the second most competitive since judicial elections made nonpartisan in 1983.
John Barrow previously campaigned in 2019 and 2020 to succeed retiring justice Robert Benham, but the election was canceled by Kemp's appointment of Carla Wong McMillian to fill Benham's remaining term. Barrow also campaigned to succeed Keith R. Blackwell in 2020, but that election was similarly cancelled by Kemp's appointment of Shawn Ellen LaGrua, and again with the appointment of Verda Colvin to succeed retiring justice Harold Melton in 2021.[19] Finally, in 2022, Kemp cancelled a potential election by appointing Pinson to succeed Nahmias.[20][21] Barrow, along with fellow candidate Beth Beskin, unsuccessfully sued in state court to challenge the law allowing for cancellations of judicial elections following the appointment of LaGrua.[22]
