Georgia State Representative Who Drafted Voting Law Appointed Superior Court Judge, Setting Stage for Special Election

Barry Fleming

Governor Brian Kemp appointed Georgia State Representative Barry Fleming (R-Harlem) to become a superior judge in the Columbia Judicial Circuit. Fleming drafted Georgia’s 2021 voting law and reportedly faced reprisal from government officials because of the legislation.

Kemp revealed his judicial appointments in a Thursday press release that he appointed Fleming to the judgeship vacated with the retirement of Judge James Blanchard.

In a brief biography of Fleming’s history, Kemp noted that Fleming “received the Guardian of Justice Award from the Georgia District Attorney’s Association, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, and the Legislator of the Year Award from the Georgia Family Council” for his service to Georgia.

Fleming (pictured above) said he looked forward to the judgeship but had mixed emotions about leaving the Georgia House, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“I really don’t want to leave the House and don’t want to leave the practice of law, but I really want to be a judge,” Fleming reportedly said, before calling it “a great time for me to take advantage of a great opportunity.”

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His departure from the Georgia House of Representatives will spark a special election. Kemp is required to call a special election within 10 days of Fleming’s departure, reported Fox 5 Atlanta, which the outlet explained means the special election for Fleming’s replacement “could be timed to coincide with Georgia’s March 12 presidential primary.”

After Fleming drafted what eventually became SB 202, Georgia’s voter integrity bill, which provoked Democrat-led corporate boycotts after Kemp signed it into law, he was reportedly removed from his position as the designated attorney for Hancock County.

Fleming has served in the Georgia House for a combined 16 years since he was first elected in 2003. Fleming has run unopposed in every primary since 2014, and ran unchallenged by Democrats or independent candidates in every general election since 2012.

In 2004, Fleming became the majority whip of the Georgia House when Fox 5 notes the party seized control over the chamber for the first time in more than 100 years.

Kemp also named Mark Hendrix, the current solicitor general of Liberty County, to a vacancy on the Atlanta Judicial Circuit, and Alison Sosebee, who is currently the district attorney of the Appalachian Judicial Circuit, to a vacancy on the Appalachian Judicial Circuit.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Republicans in the Georgia State Senate and Lt. Governor Burt Jones (R) intend to replace a Georgia election official who recently refused to vote for an investigation into the state’s handling of the 2020 presidential election.

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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Barry Fleming” by State Representative Barry Fleming.

 

 

 

 

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