Deborah Gonzalez (D) Wins Athens-Clarke & Oconee (GA) District Attorney Race!

[CottonBear]

Progressive Democrat Deborah Gonzalez has made history! She is the first Latina to be elected District Attorney in Georgia!
🗳🍑🧒🏻🇺🇸.

https://flagpole.com/news/in-the-loop/2020/12/01/deborah-gonzalez-wins-athens-district-attorney-race/

Flagpole

Deborah Gonzalez Wins Athens District Attorney Race


by Blake Aued December 1, 2020

Progressive Democrat Deborah Gonzalez eked out a victory Tuesday over prosecutor James Chafin in a runoff for Western Circuit district attorney. Gonzalez won 51.7% of 26,100 votes cast in a race that split down county and party lines, despite Chafin running as an independent.

With a promise to reform the criminal justice system, fight discrimination and end cash bail for low-level and nonviolent defendants, Gonzalez won 67% of the vote in Clarke County, where she had 60% support in a three-way special election Nov. 3.

Chafin’s strong support in heavily Republican Oconee County, the other county that makes up the Western Circuit, continued in the runoff. He won 76% of the vote there and 48.3% overall.

However, Clarke County voters outnumber Oconee County voters by more than two to one, so Gonzalez was able to win even though her margin in Clarke was smaller than Chafin’s in Oconee, and the turnout rate in Oconee was higher than in Clarke.

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This is an amazing victory for Deborah Gonzalez, a local Athens-Clarke County lawyer and former Democratic State House Representative! She is the first Latina woman to be elected a District Attorney in Georgia!

I have had the opportunity to meet Deborah on several occasions. I last spoke with her just before the November 3 special election, when I attended a downtown Athens Democratic rally to support Deborah Gonzalez, State House candidates Mokah Jasmine Johnson and Jonathon Wallace, and Congressional candidate Devin Pandy.

After longtime Western Circuit DA, Ken Mauldin (D) abruptly resigned last February, Gonzalez filed a lawsuit to overturn a state law that would have pushed the DA election to 2022. She won the lawsuit. The election became a special election because Mauldin resigned instead of serving out his term in office.

FYI: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA), is from Athens. Gov. Kemp and the GA GOP tried everything to keep the citizens of Clarke and Oconee counties from being able to hold an election for Western Circuit DA in 2020, but a tiny (under 5’ tall!) Latina Democrat fought them and won!

Congratulations to Deborah Gonzalez (D-Athens-Clarke Co.), Western Circuit District Attorney!

When we vote, we win! 🗳🍑🗳🧒🏻🗳🍑🗳

[CottonBear]

1. Congratulations from her fellow Georgians:

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

This Red & Black article about the legal fight Deborah Gonzalez waged, in order to force the state to allow an election to be held and fight voter suppression by Gov. Kemp and SoS Raffensperger, is a must read!

[CottonBear]

2. George Takei tweeted congratulations to our 1st Latina DA!

Link to tweet