Georgia law requiring nonpartisan metro Atlanta races faces constitutional challenge
Gov. Brian Kemp has signed a Georgia law requiring nonpartisan elections for most local officials in five major Atlanta-area counties, prompting Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to threaten a constitutional lawsuit.
The measure covers Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cobb and Clayton counties. It removes party labels from many local contests in those jurisdictions, including races for local prosecutors, changing the way voters will choose affected officials.
Kemp signed the bill after the 2026 legislative session. The Associated Press reported the signing and the announced challenge on June 2, 2026.
Five metro Atlanta counties are covered
The law applies in five counties: Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cobb and Clayton. Fulton County includes Atlanta, and Willis is the county’s district attorney.
The change applies to most local officials in the covered counties, rather than to every election in the city of Atlanta. The available source material does not provide the bill number or its complete effective-date language.
For voters in covered races, the central change is that party labels will not appear as part of the election format for many local offices. The measure affects election administration for local posts and specifically reaches local prosecutorial races.
Challenge is threatened, not confirmed as filed
Willis and another prosecutor said they planned to challenge the law’s constitutionality. That is an announced legal response, not a confirmed court filing: the available sources do not establish whether a lawsuit was filed after the threat or identify a filing deadline.
The dispute places the election law within a broader, ongoing debate over state policy affecting local prosecutors. In a separate case, the Georgia Attorney General’s Office said a Fulton County Superior Court judge upheld Senate Bill 92 on July 8, 2026.
That case concerned the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission and included the Augusta Judicial Circuit district attorney among the plaintiffs, according to the attorney general’s office. The available materials do not identify the SB 92 ruling as a decision on the new nonpartisan-election law or on any challenge brought by Willis.
For now, the next known development involving the election measure is the potential constitutional lawsuit announced by Willis and the other prosecutor. No court ruling on this law is established by the available reporting.
Sources
- Fani Willis vows to sue over new Georgia law that removes party labels in Atlanta-area elections, Associated Press
- Carr Secures Major Win in Defense of DA Oversight Committee, Georgia Attorney General
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