Three Fulton County prosecutors have launched campaigns against sitting judges in the upcoming judicial elections, raising questions about whether District Attorney Fani Willis is orchestrating a “revenge tour” against jurists who have crossed her in high-profile cases.
Will Wooten, who served on the team that prosecuted President Donald Trump, is challenging Trent Brown, one of the two Georgia appeals court judges whose decision helped kill the election fraud case against Trump.
Prosecutor Nikia Smith Sellers is running against Fulton Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker, who presided over the racketeering case against rapper Young Thug.
A third candidate, Janice Moore, is challenging Judge Craig Schwall, one of the first judges appointed to the Fulton bench by a Republican governor and whose former intern ran against Willis in 2024.
“It is not unusual for prosecutors, or former prosecutors, to run for seats on the bench,” said Fred Hicks, a veteran Democratic strategist who is working for Judges Whitaker and Schwall. “But it is unusual to have current assistant district attorneys running for office against sitting judges in their district.”
A Pattern of Retribution?
Word in legal circles, according to an opinion column published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on May 8, 2026, is that Willis, “never one to shy away from a fight,” recruited the three prosecutors to run against judges who have irked her.
All three candidates have stated that they made up their own minds to run, insisting that Willis is merely a “big fan” of their efforts. However, Willis has pledged her support with endorsement ads and, at least in one case, financial contributions.
The timing and target selection have fueled speculation that the district attorney is settling scores.
Judge Whitaker took over the high-profile Young Thug racketeering case, a prosecution that has faced criticism for its length and procedural complexities. Judge Brown was part of the appeals court panel whose ruling effectively ended the election interference case against Trump, a case Willis had championed as a cornerstone of her tenure.
Unusual Circumstances
Hicks, the Democratic strategist, stated that the rarity of the situation lies not in prosecutors seeking judicial office, but in current assistant district attorneys challenging the very judges before whom they regularly appear.
The judicial races have injected an unusual level of political drama into what are typically low-profile contests. Willis, who rose to national prominence for her investigation and indictment of Trump, has cultivated a reputation as an aggressive, reform-minded prosecutor unafraid of controversy.
Her defenders say she is simply supporting qualified candidates who happen to be her employees. Her critics see a pattern of retribution against a judiciary that has not always sided with her office.
What’s at Stake
The outcomes of these races could reshape the Fulton County Superior Court and the Georgia Court of Appeals. Sitting judges in Georgia rarely face serious primary challenges, and even more rarely from prosecutors in their own district.
The fact that three such challenges are occurring simultaneously – and involving Willis’s own team – has elevated these races into a referendum on the district attorney’s power and temperament.
Candidates Wooten, Smith Sellers, and Moore have all denied that Willis directed them to run. But the perception, as one legal observer put it, is difficult to escape: when three prosecutors from the same office challenge three judges who have ruled against that office, the pattern speaks for itself.
