Current Georgia Justice Pinson Beats Former Democratic Representative Barrow

In the nonpartisan court race, Incumbent Georgia Supreme Court Justice Andrew Pinson emerged victorious against John Barrow, whose campaign was fueled by abortion-related issues, on Tuesday.

DecisionDesk HQ declared Pinson the winner with 56% of the vote, as 60% of precincts reported. John Barrow, a former Democrat Representative from 2005 to 2015, received 44% of the vote.

37-year-old Pinson, who was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2022 by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, will now serve a six-year term.

Barrow, 69, aimed to be the first candidate to unseat a Georgia Supreme Court justice since 1922, as reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Barrow’s campaign focused on supporting abortion rights, while Pinson avoided discussing specific issues to maintain confidence in his ability to judge fairly and cautioned against overly politicizing judicial campaigns.

Kemp and other conservatives supported Pinson in a contentious race for Georgia’s judicial elections. Barrow filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging violations of his free-speech rights by a state judicial agency. The agency warned Barrow that claiming Georgians have a right to abortion under the state constitution could breach judicial ethics.