Ethical scandals pile up, yet Fani Willis leads Dem challenger in Fulton County DA race poll

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has a significant lead in a poll over her Democratic challenger in the primary race, despite multiple scandals during her time in office.

Willis is running for reelection as the Fulton County district attorney, facing one Democratic challenger in a race she’s highly favored to win later this month. At the same time, she is facing several scandals during her term in office, most notably regarding her prosecution of former President Donald Trump.

Willis is running for a second term in the Fulton County district attorney’s office, facing off against attorney Christian Wise Smith, who ran against her in 2020. The primary election is on May 21 and early voting began on Monday.

There is one Republican running in the DA’s race, Courtney Kramer, who said she was an intern for three months in 2018 in the White House counsel’s office under Trump.

In the primary race, Willis is up in a Hicks Election Group poll at 79% compared to Wise Smith at 9%. The poll, which is the first one conducted for this election, was conducted via text message from April 20-23 of 1,000 likely Democratic voters for the primary election with a 3% margin of error.

Willis didn’t attend the Democratic primary debate last Sunday, resulting in her opponent taking the debate stage alone. She was focusing on the case against Trump, which was why she skipped the debate, according to Fox 5 Atlanta.

Wise Smith criticized Willis for hiring her romantic partner on the Trump case.

"That issue is important to us in Fulton County and a lot of people across the country," Wise Smith said on the debate stage, reported Fox 5 Atlanta.

"When you pay one attorney nearly $1 million to handle one case, that leaves the rest of us vulnerable. That hurts everyone in Fulton County," he added.

While Wise Smith didn’t criticize the case against Trump, he said that Willis has "to do things differently."

Willis has gained notoriety for her prosecution of Trump and 18 co-defendants under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) Act over their efforts to challenge the 2020 election results in Georgia.

However, earlier this year, Willis was subject to a disqualification hearing where the judge reviewed evidence from defendants’ attorneys seeking to remove Willis from the case. The attorneys argued that Willis had an alleged “improper, clandestine personal relationship” with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.

Wade testified that he began working with Willis' office in 2021 and their romantic relationship began in early 2022 and ended in summer 2023.

Willis testified during the hearing and admitted that she didn’t disclose her romantic relationship with Wade to the county and was unaware of the requirement under Fulton County policy.

Also during the hearing, Willis testified that she reimbursed Wade with cash, without bank or transaction receipts, when she went on romantic outings with him.

Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee, who oversaw the hearing, ruled that the “allegations and evidence legally insufficient to support a finding of an actual conflict of interest,” but that there was an “appearance of impropriety.”

As a result, McAfee ordered that “The District Attorney may choose to step aside, along with the whole of her office, and refer the prosecution to the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council for reassignment.”

"Alternatively, SADA Wade can withdraw, allowing the District Attorney, the Defendants, and the public to move forward without his presence or remuneration distracting from and potentially compromising the merits of this case," he added. 

Due to the ruling, Wade resigned from the Trump case.

Additionally, Willis’ office has been sued by Just the News for not producing records sought in an open records request.

Prior to the investigation into her actions, Just the News requested records of any meetings and any communications between Willis, or Wade, and White House and Justice Department officials after reports emerged that the special prosecutor had met with Biden White House officials.

Despite admitting the existence of at least some public records, Willis’ office told Just the News in a response to its records request that no records of meetings or communications between Willis or Wade and White House or Justice Department officials existed that were not exempt from disclosure.

Willis has also been sued by Georgia state Rep. Mesha Mainor (R) for allegedly conspiring with Fulton County Commissioner Marvin Arrington, Jr. to help a former campaign worker who stalked Mainor.

The state lawmaker, in part, brought the claims under the state's Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organization statute, one of the statutes Willis used in her indictment against Trump. Mainor, who made headlines when she switched to the Republican Party last year, is seeking punitive damages and attorneys' fees.

The former campaign worker was indicted by a Fulton County grand jury on charges of aggravated stalking and violating a temporary protective order Mainor secured in August 2019, and a second aggravated assault charge was later added.

Willis dismissed one of the aggravated stalking cases, and the district attorney offered a plea deal for a three-year sentence that included one year in prison and the rest on probation with credit for the time already served. However, Mainor did not approve of the deal and said Willis did not notify her of the offer, allegedly violating the Georgia Crime Victims Bill of Rights.

According to the lawsuit, the campaign worker was a friend of the county commissioner and hired him as his attorney in October 2020. In the lawsuit, Mainor said the commissioner "used his influence to circumvent the office policies of the District Attorney's office."

Additionally, Mainor said Willis repeatedly allowed her stalker to be released on bond for non-bondable crimes and failed to notify her of court proceedings. She also alleged that Arrington and Willis discussed the case before Willis was sworn into office.

Arrington said that the lawsuit is "the latest in a string of desperate efforts made by this individual in an attempt to extract public funds for personal gain," adding that another attorney started representing the campaign worker "as early as" Dec. 2, 2020, and was not involved in "negotiations for the resolution of his case in 2021."

Willis' office and campaign didn't respond to requests for comment.