1 of 2 | Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is seen at the Georgia State Capitol during questioning from a Georgia State Senate panel about her prosecution of President Donald Trump on Dec. 17, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)

ATLANTA (AP) With Democrats steadily wiping out Republicans electorally in the core Atlanta counties of swing-state Georgia, Republicans have a new idea: Make most local candidates run for office without party labels.

The Republican-majority Georgia House on Friday gave final passage to a bill that would require nonpartisan elections in the five most populous counties in metro Atlanta. Among officials affected would be Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis , whom Republicans have repeatedly targeted because of her prosecution of Republican President Donald Trump after he pushed to overturn Democrat Joe Bidens key win in Georgia in 2020.

State Sen. John Albers, a Republican from the Atlanta suburb of Roswell who pushed the bill, said he believed it was needed to promote public safety, even though the counties elected sheriffs will continue to be elected under party labels when it goes into effect in 2028.

This is a bill that makes perfect sense, Albers said during Senate debate Thursday. If youre playing politics, youll be against this. If you want to keep Georgians safe, youll be for it.

The measure would require nonpartisan elections for district attorneys, lower level county prosecutors called solicitors general, county commissioners, court clerks and tax commissioners.

It would apply in Fulton County, which includes most of Atlanta, as well as the suburbs of Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb and Gwinnett counties. Fulton, DeKalb and Clayton counties are the three most important Democratic jurisdictions in the state. Cobb and Gwinnett, once the suburban heartlands of Georgia Republicans, have increasingly come under Democratic control since 2016.

Democrats assailed the bill as trying to rig elections so Republicans running without party labels had a better chance to win.

The reason were putting this bill forward is because theres a certain side thats losing elections in these counties, so they want to hide behind a nonpartisan badge in order to win them, said state Rep. Gabriel Sanchez, a Democrat from Smyrna in Cobb County.

Carter Chapman, a spokesperson for Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, declined to say Friday whether Kemp will sign the bill into law.

While the bills primary sponsors have denied the measure targets Willis, other Republicans edged closer to that theme.

By passing this legislation, were giving voters the opportunity to rid themselves of district attorneys who are more concerned with playing partisan games than prosecuting and delivering justice, said Rep. Trey Kelley, a Republican from rural Cedartown.

Republicans have passed multiple bills in recent years targeting district attorneys and Willis in particular. The association representing district attorneys argues that the law cant change the partisan status of district attorneys because they arent county officers, but instead state judicial branch officers.

The association argues that a state constitutional amendment is whats needed instead. That would be exceedingly unlikely given Democrats have enough strength to block the two-thirds vote needed in the General Assembly to propose such a measure to go before Georgia voters.

Two of the 99 Republicans voted against the bill, including Republican Jordan Ridley, whose district includes part of Cobb County.

If its good policy, then it should be statewide, Ridley told reporters after the vote.

亚特兰大（美联社）——在摇摆州佐治亚州的核心亚特兰大地区，民主党人正逐步在选举中击败共和党人。对此，共和党人提出了一个新策略：让大多数地方候选人在无党派标签的情况下参选。

由共和党占多数的佐治亚州众议院于周五最终通过一项法案，要求亚特兰大都会区五个最大人口县实行无党派选举。受影响的官员包括富尔顿县地区检察官法妮·威利斯，共和党人因其对前总统唐纳德·特朗普的起诉而多次针对她——特朗普曾试图推翻民主党人乔·拜登2020年在佐治亚州的关键胜选结果。

来自亚特兰大郊区罗斯威尔的共和党籍州参议员约翰·阿尔伯斯（John Albers）是推动该法案的主要人物。他表示，尽管各县选举出的治安官在2028年法案生效后仍将保留党派标签，但他认为该法案对促进公共安全是必要的。

阿尔伯斯在周四的参议院辩论中表示："这项法案合情合理。如果你玩弄政治手段，就会反对它；如果你想保障佐治亚州民众的安全，就会支持它。"

该措施将要求对地区检察官、被称为总检察长的县级基层检察官、县专员、法院书记员以及税务专员实行无党派选举。

该规定将适用于包含亚特兰大市大部分区域的富尔顿县，以及克莱顿、科布、迪卡尔布和格威内特县的郊区。富尔顿、迪卡尔布和克莱顿县是该州最重要的三个民主党执政辖区。而曾为佐治亚州共和党票仓的科布县和格威内特县，自2016年以来也逐渐被民主党所掌控。

民主党人抨击该法案企图操纵选举，以使不标注党派身份的共和党候选人获得更大胜算。

来自科布县士麦那的民主党州众议员加布里埃尔·桑切斯表示：“我们提出这项法案的原因是，某些党派在这些县的选举中屡屡失利，因此他们想打着无党派的幌子来赢得选举。”

共和党州长布莱恩·肯普的发言人卡特·查普曼周五拒绝透露肯普是否会签署该法案使其成为法律。

尽管该法案的主要发起人否认该措施针对威利斯，但其他共和党人却愈发倾向于这一论调。

来自塞达敦农村地区的共和党众议员特雷·凯利表示：“通过这项立法，我们将赋予选民权力，使他们能够摆脱那些更热衷于玩弄党派游戏而非起诉和伸张正义的地区检察官。”

近年来，共和党人已通过多项针对地区检察官（尤其是威利斯）的法案。代表地区检察官的协会辩称，该法律无法改变地区检察官的党派属性，因为他们并非县级官员，而是州司法系统的官员。

该协会主张，真正需要的是对州宪法进行修正。但鉴于民主党在州议会中拥有足够力量阻止三分之二的投票通过——这是将此类提案提交给佐治亚州选民表决的必要条件——修宪的可能性微乎其微。

99名共和党人中有两人对该法案投了反对票，其中包括选区涵盖科布县部分地区的共和党人乔丹·里德利（Jordan Ridley）。

投票结束后，里德利对记者表示：“如果这是一项好政策，那么它就应该在全州范围内实施。”