Republican behind Georgia voting law appointed as judge
The sponsor of Georgia’s 2021 voting law, Republican state Rep. Barry Fleming, will soon be a judge.
Gov. Brian Kemp on Wednesday appointed Fleming to become a superior court judge for the Columbia Judicial Circuit north of Augusta.
Fleming, an attorney from Harlem, led the overhaul of Georgia’s election laws after Republican Donald Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020.
The new voting law, Senate Bill 202, limited absentee ballot drop boxes, allowed broad challenges to voters’ eligibility, banned handing out food and drinks to voters waiting in line, prohibited mass mailings of absentee ballot request forms, and required two Saturdays of early voting in general elections.
Fleming said he’s looking forward to serving as a judge.
“I really don’t want to leave the House and don’t want to leave the practice of law, but I really want to be a judge,” Fleming said Thursday. “Now is a great time for me to take advantage of a great opportunity.”
Fleming served in the state House from 2003 through 2008, when he ran unsuccessfully for Congress. He returned to the House in 2013.
Fleming lost a race to become speaker of the House last year, defeated by state Rep. Jon Burns, a Republican from Newington.
Fleming will fill a superior court vacancy created by the retirement of Judge James Blanchard Jr. Fleming will be sworn in Jan. 10.
A special election will soon be scheduled to replace Fleming in the state House representing parts of Columbia and McDuffie counties.
About the Author
Mark Niesse is an enterprise reporter and covers elections and Georgia government for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and is considered an expert on elections and voting. Before joining the AJC, he worked for The Associated Press in Atlanta, Honolulu and Montgomery, Alabama. He also reported for The Daily Report and The Santiago Times in Chile.
