U.S. District Court Orders District Attorney Election On Nov. 3

In a strongly worded decision on Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Cohen in Atlanta granted a preliminary injunction requiring Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to hold an election for the District Attorney of the Western Judicial Circuit on Nov. 3.

Cohen ordered that representatives of Deborah Gonzalez and the four other plaintiffs meet with representatives of Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Raffensperger and “endeavor to present to the Court” within 14 days a consent order setting out the procedures for conducting the special election.

Cohen issued the preliminary injunction after finding that the plaintiffs “are substantially likely to succeed on the merits of their claim.”

He also ruled that “failure to conduct an election for the office of District Attorney for the Western Judicial Circuit violates the Georgia Constitution and thus the Fourteenth Amendment” to the U.S. Constitution. The Western Judicial Circuit is made up of Oconee and Clarke counties.

As a result, Cohen ruled, “Plaintiffs will suffer irreparable harm if the Court declined to enter a preliminary injunction due to the denial of their right to vote in the upcoming 2020 election.”

Cohen said that neither Kemp nor Raffensperger would be harmed by issuance of the injunction forcing the state to hold the election and that such an injunction also would “not be adverse to the public interest.”

Gonzalez, in a victory gathering held virtually on Zoom on Thursday evening, began her campaign by asking those gathered to help her get elected.

Brian Patterson, who, like Gonzalez, had been campaigning for the District Attorney race when Kemp effectively terminated the race in early May, said on Thursday he will launch his campaign again on Friday.

For more on the story, please go to Oconee County Observations.