Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis, who rose to national prominence last year after investigating and indicting former president Donald Trump in the Georgia 2020-election-interference case, handily won her reelection bid against attorney Christian Wise Smith in Tuesday’s Democratic primary.
Willis beat her opponent by more than 70 percentage points, with the Associated Press calling the race at 7:31 p.m. eastern time. Her victory was expected, as one poll conducted in late April found that 79 percent of 1,000 likely Democratic voters were planning on voting for Willis. Only 9 percent said they would back Wise Smith.
Results for the Fulton County district-attorney race come as the future of Willis’s prosecution against Trump and more than a dozen of his closest allies remains uncertain. A Georgia appellate court is considering Trump’s petition to disqualify Willis from the case for improper conduct.
Willis has faced public scrutiny in recent months over her handling of the election-interference case, in which Trump and the remaining 14 co-defendants are alleged to have tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. President Joe Biden’s narrow victory in the swing state caused concern among the former president and his allies. Trump pleaded not guilty to the allegations and accused Willis of waging a political vendetta against him.
Controversy arose when Willis disclosed that she had a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, who was appointed as special prosecutor to the case in November 2021. Both Willis and Wade maintained their innocence and, contrary to allegations made by Trump’s lawyers, claimed that their affair started after she had hired him.
The former special prosecutor resigned shortly after Judge Scott McAfee, who presides over the case, ruled in March that Willis could stay on the Trump trial as long as Wade stepped aside. The trial date remains unknown.
Moreover, Willis faces congressional investigations over her alleged misuse of federal funds during the investigation into Trump. Last week, Senators Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) and Ron Johnson (R., Wis.) opened a second investigation into Willis. The first probe was opened by House Judiciary Committee chairman Jim Jordan (R., Ohio), who served her a subpoena in February. She is also under investigation by a committee in the Georgia legislature for the same reason.
A day prior to the primary election, Willis urged Fulton County voters to support her at the ballot box. “I need people around the country to support me big and small to say that we are going to be a country that still believes in the rule of law,” she told MSNBC on Monday.
Despite her short-term victory, the embattled Democratic district attorney still has to face Republican contender Courtney Kramer in the November general election. Kramer remained uncontested in Tuesday’s Republican primary. During her MSNBC interview, Willis said Kramer is “unqualified” for the job and has “never practiced criminal law.” Kramer practices election law.
It’s likely that Willis will win the upcoming election, as Fulton County voters lean more Democratic. Biden won over 72 percent of the county’s vote in 2020, compared with Trump’s 26 percent.