Dem-backed state Supreme Court candidates lose critical Georgia race

Former state Sen. Jen Jordan and attorney Miracle Rankin have lost their election bids to add two Democratic voices to the eight-member Georgia Supreme Court bench. 

The race had serious implications for the future of voting rights in Georgia, particularly after Gov. Brian Kemp (R) called for a special redistricting session to potentially reduce the number of majority-Black congressional districts in the state — a case that almost certainly could end up before the high court. 

However, conservatives assailed Jordan and Rankin’s high-profile campaigns, which garnered endorsements from former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Kamala Harris. 

Just two days before the election, a Republican-controlled state judicial watchdog panel reprimanded the two women for taking stances on reproductive rights and endorsing each other’s campaigns.

In a recent interview with the Georgia Recorder, Jordan had said that “voters concerned with protecting the right to privacy and the right to vote must pay close attention to this high-stakes election.”

State constitution experts weighed in that, if elected, they would likely have had to recuse themselves from cases involving abortion, a matter that is currently pending before the court.

Jordan and Rankin were running against two Republican-appointed incumbents — the justices are supposed to be nonpartisan — who were both endorsed by Kemp. 

The Democratic Party of Georgia criticized the judicial watchdog’s findings. 

“While the incumbents use an insider government agency to do their dirty work, Georgia voters understand what’s at stake and are showing up in record numbers to elect pro-rights, pro-democracy justices in Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin,” the party said in a statement.