Rahul Bali
| WABE
May 19th, 2026
Updated May 20, 2026,
12:44 AM EDT
Justice Sarah Hawkins Warren beat former state Sen. Jen Jordan, and Justice Charlie Bethel beat attorney Miracle Rankin in two races for the Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Justice Benjamin Land ran unopposed in the third state Supreme Court race on the ballot.
Both Bethel and Warren were appointed to the court by former Republican Gov. Nathan Deal, and both won re-election in 2020. Bethel’s was a significantly closer race, winning with 52% of the vote.
These races saw the endorsements of former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Republicans also talked about the race, most notably Gov. Brian Kemp, who was concerned about the early voting lead Democrats had going into Tuesday’s election.
“If you want people that will actually go up there and, you know, not try to interpret what the law is but follow the law and not try to make it, you should vote for our incumbent judges and justices that’s on the ballot,” Kemp told reporters at a campaign event for Senate candidate Derek Dooley on Thursday.
“It’s unfortunate the other side, backed by money that’s from outside of the state, is trying to make a nonpartisan race political. That’s not how our judiciary works in our state. And I would urge people to vote for the incumbents they have bipartisan support, from people that really understand how important it is to have a nonpartisan judiciary,” he added.
State Supreme Courts could see environmental regulation, gerrymandering cases
Nationally, state courts have seen issues being pushed down from the federal level, most notably abortion.
As for that issue, advocacy groups on both sides have been backing candidates as well. The key point there is the Georgia Supreme Court’s 2024 decision, which included Bethel and Warren, to put Georgia’s six-week abortion back into effect after a Fulton County judge had ruled it unconstitutional.
As a then-state senator, Jordan was a key opponent of the abortion ban when it was passed by the General Assembly in 2019.
Other issues that that have been dealt with in federal courts that could be seen in state courts include environmental regulations, along with gerrymandering after the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision.
Judicial watchdog says Jordan and Rankin violated rules
On Monday, statements from Georgia’s Judicial Qualifications Commission were made public, saying Jordan and Rankin violated its rules of conduct by endorsing one another and running on the issue of restoring abortion rights to Georgia.
Warren and Bethel both voted to reinstate Georgia’s six-week abortion ban in 2024.
The JQC says candidates can’t make promises that commit them to issues that are likely to come before the court.
In separate statements, Jordan responded that candidates like herself “must be allowed to communicate their views so that voters know who aligns with their values.” And Rankin wrote that the JQC’s complaint violates her First Amendment right to freedom of speech.
