by Niles Francis, Georgia Recorder, [This article first appeared in the Georgia Recorder, republished with permission]

September 9, 2025

The upcoming race for governor won’t be the only wide-open constitutional office on the ballot next year. 

In addition to choosing Georgia’s next chief executive, lieutenant governor (and possibly Secretary of State), voters will also be selecting the state’s next attorney general. It’s just the latest in a game of political musical chairs playing out at the state Capitol as Gov. Brian Kemp enters his final year in office.

Incumbent attorney general Chris Carr, a Republican, is one of many candidates hoping to take a seat in the governor’s chair as the sun sets on Kemp’s two-term tenure, leading to an open race to become Georgia’s chief litigator.

Democrats are hoping that the lack of an incumbent, along with Georgia’s shifting political terrain, put this race in play. Republicans, meanwhile, are hoping to maintain a nearly two-decade-long grip on Georgia’s executive offices.

Republicans appear to be locked in a competitive primary between two prominent state senators, while Democrats are set to choose between two candidates who have served in the state House, including one currently.

State Sen. Bill Cowsert was the first Republican to join the contest. An Athens Republican, Cowsert is the longest-serving member of his caucus and once served as the chamber’s majority leader. He will quickly tout himself as the candidate with the most experience, saying he has spent more time in courtrooms than all of his opponents combined.

He also helped lead the state Senate’s scrutiny of Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney who made national headlines for charging then-former President Donald Trump and more than a dozen of his allies for their roles in trying to overturn the 2020 election. The case has been stalled after defense attorneys uncovered her romantic relationship with the lead prosecutor, which led a top court to sever her office from the case entirely.

Cowsert also leaned into public safety, with an important emphasis on his hometown, which was the scene of the brutal murder of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley on the campus of the University of Georgia last February at the hands of a Venezuelan migrant.

“When Laken Riley was murdered last year, it rocked [Athens],” he said during a brief interview. “And when it became apparent that Athens is a sanctuary city and made declarations that were very welcoming to illegal immigrants, it’s very much becoming a public safety issue.” 

His opponent in the primary, state Sen. Brian Strickland, is striking a similar tone of fighting crime and defending conservative values. The McDonough attorney and former state representative chairs the Senate’s powerful judiciary committee, which deals with legal and judicial issues.

Strickland said he would welcome an endorsement from President Donald Trump, who has acted as a kingmaker in Republican politics since his first run for the White House a decade ago.

“I’ll take a Trump endorsement,” he said during an interview with Atlanta’s 11Alive News. “I think I’m someone that lines up with his views. And I’m someone that will fight for the values of Georgia. I’ll take those fights I’ve had at the statehouse across the street to the courthouse.”

Democrats, meanwhile, are seeking to win the attorney general post for the first time since 2006. Two state lawmakers, one current and one former, believe they have what it takes to break Republicans’ two-decade-long hold on the office.

What started off as a seemingly quiet race suddenly raised a few eyebrows last month when State Rep. Tanya Miller announced her bid. A Democrat from Atlanta, Miller’s legal career began in New York as a federal prosecutor before relocating to Georgia to work in the Fulton County District Attorney’s office. Only in her second term as a legislator, she has already risen to the No. 3 spot in the House Democratic Caucus, where she has been a vociferous critic of Kemp’s litigation overhaul and many of his legislative priorities.

With Republicans already attacking Democrats as obstructionists who only want to go toe-to-toe with Trump for political points, Miller is pledging to put politics aside. 

“In all my years of being a prosecutor, I’ve never asked a victim whether they were a Republican or a Democrat. I’ve never asked the accused whether they were a Republican or a Democrat. Your job is to represent the people – all people. And it’s unfortunate that in this political process, the [attorney general’s] office is being politicized.”

Former state Rep. Bob Trammell, who served as House minority leader and who is now Miller’s opponent in the Democratic primary, is also distancing himself from Republican attacks. Hailing from a small Meriwether County community called Luthersville, Trammell was the first Democrat to formally enter the contest and believes that the description of the job he is running for can only be summed up in two words: “protect Georgians.”

“If the attorney general is literally waiting on instructions from the White House on what to do and what not to do, who is the client in that situation? Is the client Georgians whom you are charged constitutionally with protecting, or is your client the political occupant of the White House?” Trammell said. 

With contested primaries in both parties, the attorney general’s race is already one of the marquee races on the ballot next year. But in a state where Republicans have dominated down-ballot contests for most of this century, it’s Democrats who need to convince voters that now is the time to end two decades of GOP leadership at the state level.

Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jill Nolin for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com.