Georgia’s Democratic attorney general is pursuing an election case against Trump and is facing a Republican challenger

ATLANTA (AP) — A Republican lawyer who interned at the White House under Donald Trump is challenging Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, the Georgia prosecutor who filed the charges Indictment against the former president about efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Courtney Kramer worked in the White House counsel’s office during the Trump presidency and is active in GOP organizations. She is the first Republican to run for district attorney in Fulton County since 2000.

Fulton County, home to 11% of the state’s electorate and encompassing most of the city of Atlanta, is a Democratic stronghold.

Willis took office in January 2021 beat their predecessor – and former boss – long-time district attorney Paul Howard in ret bitter Democratic primary campaign in 2020.

She made headlines just one month into her term when she announced in February 2021 that it was investigating whether Trump and others broke laws as they tried to overturn his narrow loss in the state to Democrat Joe Biden. Two and a half years later, after an investigation that also brought dozens of witnesses to trial Special Grand JuryIn August 2023, she secured a comprehensive racketeering indictment against Trump and 18 other people.

Four people have pleaded guilty after agreements were reached with the public prosecutor’s office. Trump and the remaining defendants have all pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.

As they entered the race for district attorney In March, Kramer said the charges against Trump were a politically motivated case and a waste of resources. But she said if she becomes district attorney, she would recuse herself from this case because she worked with two of the defendants.

Kramer, 31, said one of her top priorities will be to focus on “front-end law enforcement,” which she said includes quickly reviewing incoming cases so decisions can be made about bail, disclosure can be made available to defense attorneys and a decision can be made as to whether an early objection offer can be used to resolve the case.

Willis, 53, said she is proud of a pre-arraignment diversion program she started and a program in schools to encourage students to choose alternatives to gangs and crime, as well as the reduction in homicides and the backlog of uncharged cases cases during their term of office. She said she would focus a second term on creating more resources for victims of domestic violence in the county.