Former Fulton County prosecutor says he will challenge DA Fani Willis

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - A former Fulton County prosecutor is moving ahead with his bid to challenge District Attorney Fani Willis.

Democrat Christian Wise Smith qualified to run earlier this month but said at that time that he was still weighing his options. This week, he reaffirmed his commitment to stay in the race. 

Who is Christian Wise Smith

Wise Smith has previously served as Atlanta City Solicitor and as a Fulton County prosecutor. This would be his second time running against Willis. Wise Smith, who is the founder and president of the National Social Justice Alliance, ran against Willis in 2020. He campaigned on reforming the local criminal justice system.

According to his website, Wise Smith was 17 when he was kicked out of school and headed down a path leading straight to jail. However, he met a police officer who took an interest and completed his education and became an attorney in 2012. Wise Smith says that what he experienced during his childhood led him to devote his career to making the country safer by working with youth to reduce crime. 

Who is Courtney Kramer

Republican Courtney Kramer, an associate attorney for The Katz Law Group, is also running. 

She reportedly has worked as a litigation consultant for former President Donald Trump’s legal team. Additionally, she worked as special counsel for the Georgia Republican Party when it was run by David Shafer, one of Trump's co-defendants in the Georgia case. And she was the executive director of True the Vote, an organization accused of spreading misinformation about the 2020 election. 

Kramer is a little-known candidate in a heavily Democratic county, but she may be able to raise large sums of money from Trump supporters around the country. She will also likely use Willis' recent troubles against her during her campaign.

According to her website, Kramer is an Atlanta native and graduated magna cum laude from Georgia College and State University in 2015 with a B.A. in Political Science. In 2019, she received her J.D. from Emory Law School where she worked for the United Nations in the Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate Program and wrote for the Emory International Law Review.

Willis and Wade controversy

Willis has been embroiled in controversy since January over her personal relationship with former special prosecutor Nathan Wade, who was hired to lead the investigation into the Georgia election interference case. 

Motions to disqualify her and her office resulted in several days of hearings. Ultimately, Fulton County Superior Court Judge decided that either Willis or Wade needed to step aside in order for the Georgia election interference case to proceed. Although he did not find that Willis did anything criminal, the judge did rebuke the district attorney, questioning her judgment.

RELATED: Nathan Wade steps down after judge rules on Fani Willis disqualification motions

Willis says case will move forward

Over the weekend, Willis spoke to the media while attending an Easter event for children in College Park. She said that she thinks she is the only district attorney in the state and probably in the country that has the courage to prosecute former President Trump and his co-defendants. 

Willis also told CNN that she didn't feel like the case against Trump had been slowed down at all. Trump faces four felony indictments — including separate federal and state cases for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election that he lost to President Joe Biden.

The first hearing related to the Georgia election interference case will take place on March 28. Judge McAfee will be considering motions filed by Trump and Shafer. 

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Willis has filed her qualifying paperwork to seek re-election.

The party primaries are scheduled for May 21, and the general election will take place on Nov. 5.