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Conservative Georgia Supreme Court Justice Sarah Warren won re-election Tuesday, NBC News projects, fending off a Democratic-backed challenger in the battleground state.
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Warren, whom GOP Gov. Nathan Deal appointed to Georgia’s top court, defeated former state Sen. Jen Jordan to win another six year-term. Another Republican-appointed justice, Charles Bethel, was locked in a tight race with attorney Miracle Rankin.
Justice Ben Land, whom GOP Gov. Brian Kemp appointed last year, ran unopposed for re-election.
While elections for the technically nonpartisan court are typically quiet — a justice has not lost re-election in more than a century, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution — this year’s races attracted involvement from major players in both parties and millions of dollars in advertising. Bethel and Warren were backed by Kemp and some Republican-leaning groups that support restrictions on abortion rights.
Rankin and Jordan were boosted by high-profile Democrats — most notably former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Kamala Harris — in addition to the state party and abortion-rights groups.
More than $4 million was spent on ads across the two contests, according to the tracking firm AdImpact.
In 2020, Bethel won by more than 4 points, while Warren cruised to a 57-point victory.
The ideological balance of the Supreme Court was not at stake this year, with eight of the nine justices having been initially appointed by Republican governors. But both parties were looking to make a statement in a key swing state ahead of this fall’s midterm elections.
Georgia is set to hold high-profile contests this fall for the U.S. Senate and governor. Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff is Republicans’ top target as they seek to maintain control of the chamber, while both parties are vying to succeed Kemp, who is term-limited.
The races were the latest in a string of state judicial elections that have experienced upticks in money and national attention in recent years. State Supreme Court elections in Wisconsin, another battleground state, set spending records in 2023 and 2025 when control was up for grabs.
