Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has spent over $1 million defending her position, which has been safe for Democrats since 2000.
The Georgia official, who is prosecuting former President Donald Trump for alleged election interference, had received over $2.1 million in contributions, filings seen by Newsweek showed.
Willis, elected as the first female DA in Fulton County in 2020, is up against Republican and former Trump White House staffer Courtney Kramer, who, by comparison, had raised over $372,500 and spent $251,000.
The filings showed that Willis had spent around 62 percent of her funds compared to Kramer’s 67 percent.
Newsweek reached out to the Willis and Kramer campaigns for comment via email on Friday afternoon.
Fulton County, home to about 1 million people and the state capital of Atlanta, is a predominantly blue county in the swing state, meaning Willis would typically be the favored candidate in the DA race.
However, earlier this year, she became the center of a controversy during her high-profile prosecution of Trump and 18 of his allies in connection with alleged attempts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results.
Fulton County DA Fani Willis in Atlanta on August 14, 2023. Courtney Kramer (R) in Atlanta on March 8. Filings show Willis has spent almost $1 million in her reelection campaign.
AP Photo/John Bazemore, File/Natrice Miller/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP
Willis was in a relationship with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she had hired for the case. A judge later said she could remain on the case, but an appeal hearing is set for December, putting the main case on hold.
The attorney running against her is partly doing so in protest of Willis’ prosecution of Trump. Kramer, an elections law attorney, has promised to focus on crime if elected to the DA’s office and said she would not seek to halt the case against the former president.
“As a lawyer myself, it’s disgusting to see her not follow her rules of professional conduct or take her oath of office seriously,” Kramer told Real America’s Voice of Willis in March. “It’s a disgrace to the legal community.”
Willis won her primary in May with 89 percent of the vote. Her campaign website promises an ever-safer community and a more transparent district attorney’s office. While being tough on crime, she has also touted programs with schools and community organizations to help prevent the most vulnerable from being caught up in crime.
In a recent ad, Willis branded her opponent as “dangerously unqualified,” saying Kramer had never prosecuted a case or taken on gangs.
Kramer has also promised to make Fulton County safer, focusing on “combating political lawfare” and encouraging ethical and professional conduct in the office.
Part of that campaign pledge includes “committing to upholding the independence and integrity of the legal system, free from undue political influence or partisan agendas,” reflecting her views on the prosecution of the former president.
