Georgia Democrat Makes Abortion Key Issue in Election Bid for State Supreme Court

Former Democratic Congressman John Barrow is working to ensure that abortion is top of voter’s minds this year as he looks to unseat Georgia Supreme Court Justice Andrew Pinson.

Mr. Barrow’s attempt to claim a spot on the highest court in the state comes after it held up Georgia’s own 6-week abortion ban.

“I’m running because we need Justices on the Georgia Supreme Court who will protect the right of women and their families to make the most personal family and health care decisions they’ll ever make,” Mr. Barrow says on his campaign website.

He also stated his views that the state Supreme Court is the only one who can fix problems like gerrymandering, and what he broadly considers “judge-made rules” that “make it harder to hold government officials accountable when they break the law.”

The practicing attorney from Athens, Georgia, touted 14 years of service in local government, 10 years in Congress, and experience as a volunteer public attorney as proof of why he is more empathetic and, therefore, a better pick for the job, which is to oversee the application of state law and the Constitution without favor or prejudice.

“I’ve represented more Georgians, in more different ways, than anybody else on the Court,” he said. “And I believe most folks want that kind of experience on our Supreme Court.”

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10/24/2023

Meanwhile, he said, Justice Pinson “clearly did not represent the interests of women and families in Georgia,” and that the people of Georgia can’t expect the justice to “fight for our interests.”

The incumbent also declared, “Personal preferences of individual judges should never affect how we interpret and apply our laws,” and that “judges who apply what the law should be, rather than what it says, undermine our democratic process.”

“The rule of law is the simple but powerful idea that we are all bound by the laws that our elected representatives have passed,” he said. “Without the rule of law, our rights and liberties would be meaningless.”

The election, which will determine the winner by popular vote, is set for May 21.

Nonpartisan Elections

Georgia is one of 13 states that selects its justices via nonpartisan elections to serve six-year terms, with midterm vacancies replaced by the governor’s appointment.

Justice Pinson was appointed by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to fill a vacancy in 2022 and will be looking to earn his first full six-year term.

Mr. Barrow attempted to run for a seat in a May 2020 election. However, that election was canceled by Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger when the challenged justice announced his resignation that February and prompted Mr. Kemp to appoint a replacement.

That resignation was not set to begin until November, two months before the newly-elected justice would have taken the seat. Still, Mr. Raffensperger ruled that no election was legally required. Mr. Barrow filed a lawsuit challenging the decision but a trial court ruled against him.

Officially, these are nonpartisan justices. However, Justice Pinson is one of four current justices who were appointed by Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and are yet to face re-election. In fact, all but one of Georgia’s Supreme Court Justices, Justice John J. Ellington, were first appointed by either Mr. Kemp or his Republican predecessor, Gov. Nathan Deal. The other five were elected to full six-year terms in 2020 and 2022, with three incumbents facing challengers.

Meanwhile, Mr. Barrow built a career as a Democratic politician, and his openly pro-abortion stance earned him an endorsement from the organization Reproductive Rights for All, which called out Justice Pinson’s conservative ties and connection to overturn Roe v. Wade to return decision-making on abortion to the state level.

“Republican incumbent Andrew Pinson, who was appointed by Governor Kemp in 2022, is a member of the ultraconservative Federalist Society and clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas,” the organization stated on April 25. “As state solicitor general, he signed onto the effort to overturn Roe.”

CEO of the activist group Reproductive Rights for All Mini Timmaraju criticized Georgia’s Supreme Court for upholding “one of the most extreme” state abortion bans, and said, “We need John Barrow on the court to recognize that abortion is a fundamental freedom.”