In response to attempts by the Republican-appointed Judicial Qualifications Committee’s attempts to curtail candidates’ First Amendment-protected speech and hide the stakes of this year’s judicial elections from voters, DPG Chair Charlie Bailey released the following statement:
“This is a cynical attempt by a mere bureaucratic arm of the Georgia Republican establishment to hide the truth about this race from Georgia voters. A federal judge has already ruled that what the JQC is doing is likely a violation of Jen’s and Miracle’s first amendment rights and issued a temporary restraining order to prevent the JQC from making public statements like these.
“These Supreme Court seats do not belong to Governors, they do not belong to political parties, they do not belong to unelected government agencies—they belong to the people of Georgia. Voters have a right to know the values and the judicial philosophies of all the candidates, and they need to know that Warren and Bethel have rubber stamped Georgia’s abortion ban and allowed utility companies to hike up rates while Georgians pay the costs.
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.”
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