Justice Andrew Pinson Retains Seat on Georgia Supreme Court
Only one of the four seats on the state Supreme Court up this year was contested.
An incumbent justice on the Georgia Supreme Court hasn’t lost re-election in over 100 years. It’s historically even been rare for incumbents to face opponents for retention. Of the four justices on the ballot today, three ran unopposed for new six-year terms on the bench - Michael P. Boggs, Nels S.D. Peterson and John J. Ellington. However, the court’s newest addition faced a Democratic challenger. The race has been viewed as a potential indicator of the state’s leftward trend in recent years.
Of the nine justices on the Georgia Supreme Court, eight were appointed to the court instead of being directly elected by voters. All of those appointments have come from Republican governors - Nathan Deal and Brian Kemp. In the past, incumbent justices have repeatedly timed their resignations to ensure the governor appoints their replacement. In Georgia, a Supreme Court justice enjoys at least six months on the court before having to appear on the ballot. That has resulted in the cancellations of numerous general elections.
History hasn’t been made today as incumbent Georgia Supreme Court Justice Andrew Pinson has been declared the winner of the general election. The race was called in his favor as he’s currently leading with 55.0% against John Barrow with 45.0%. 1,172,320 votes have been counted.
Pinson has served as an Associate Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court since July 2022. He was previously the Solicitor General of Georgia from September 2018 to August 2021 and a Judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals from August 2021 to July 2022. He also worked as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
Barrow represented Georgia’s 12th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from January 2005 to January 2015. He was then the Democratic nominee for Georgia Secretary of State in 2018 - ultimately losing 51.89-48.11 against Republican Brad Raffensperger. In 2020, he launched his first campaign for a seat on the Georgia Supreme Court but the general election was cancelled after Justice Robert Benham retired early and Kemp appointed his successor.
Georgia is expected to be one of the most competitive states during the presidential election this fall. That will remain true despite every justice on the Georgia Supreme Court having conservative ideological views.