Scott McAfee, the rookie judge overseeing the election interference case against former President Donald Trump and 14 others, cruised to his first full term on the Fulton Superior Court bench following Tuesday’s election.
McAfee easily bested Robert Patillo, a civil rights attorney who criticized the judge’s background as a former Fulton and federal prosecutor. The Associated Press called the race roughly 30 minutes after polls closed.
“I strongly believe that justice should be blind and that people should have faith in our system,” McAfee said in a statement. “This overwhelming support says that that is what people believe and want.”
The 34-year-old father of two had spent just six months on the bench when he was randomly selected last summer to oversee the election case. He has drawn praise for his even-keeled demeanor, though he received some criticism for holding an evidentiary hearing in February that investigated the former romantic relationship between Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis and then-special prosecutor Nathan Wade. McAfee at the time said he believed he had little choice in the matter after being presented with two sets of facts from prosecutors and defense attorneys.
On the campaign trail, McAfee declined to discuss the Trump case due to judicial rules barring him from discussing how he would rule on matters before him. He instead focused on his efforts to clear the backlog of cases he inherited, the importance of livestreaming courtroom proceedings and his judicial approach.
McAfee was among the roughly 4% of superior court judges in the state to draw an opponent this year. Still, he was seen as the overwhelming favorite moving into election day due to his commanding fundraising advantage and a raft of bipartisan endorsements, including from former Gov. Roy Barnes and Gov. Brian Kemp, who appointed him to his seat in late 2022. He was previously state inspector general and a Fulton and federal prosecutor.
Patillo is a media pundit who was once the executive director of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the social justice and civil rights group founded by the Rev. Jesse Jackson. His campaign focused on enacting restorative justice programs, particularly for juvenile offenders, and cutting down on trial wait times. While he initially declined to criticize McAfee, Patillo later panned the judge’s handling of the Willis disqualification matter and highlighted McAfee’s law school leadership role in the Federalist Society, the influential conservative and libertarian legal group.
A third candidate, Tiffani Johnson, was disqualified from the race due to a residency challenge. A former Fulton assistant solicitor, Johnson recently appealed a lower court ruling to the Supreme Court of Georgia, which did not rule before election day.
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