Fani Willis Sees Donations Double

Donations to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' reelection campaign have doubled.

Between January and April, Willis received $229,333 in campaign contributions, more than twice the amount she raised between July and December of last year. Campaign finance data from Georgia shows that Willis' campaign received $105,104 in the last six months of 2023. The district attorney also raised more than $176,000 between January and June of 2023.

Willis' national profile has risen steadily in recent years. Her office is leading a sweeping racketeering case against former President Donald Trump and 18 of his allies. In August, the district attorney indicted Trump with 13 felony counts related to his alleged efforts to overturn the results of Georgia's 2020 election. Three of those counts have since been dismissed by Judge Scott McAfee, so Trump now faces 10 charges.

There have been several efforts to disqualify Willis from the case.

Earlier this year, one of Trump's co-defendants filed a motion seeking Willis' removal based on her relationship with attorney Nathan Wade, whom she had appointed to the prosecution. In March, McAfee said Willis could remain on the case if Wade resigned—which he did hours after the judge's decision. On May 8, the Georgia Court of Appeals agreed to reconsider McAfee's disqualification ruling.

Georgia Republicans in the state Senate have also launched a probe into Willis to determine whether she and Wade used taxpayer dollars during their relationship. Willis said Monday that she would not testify before the panel.

Willis', who is up for reelection amid the high-profile case, is set to face Democrat Christian Wise Smith in Georgia's May 21 primary. If successful, she would then face Republican Courtney Kramer in the general election. Both Wise Smith and Kramer filed their candidacy paperwork in March.

Since announcing their bids for Fulton County district attorney, Wise Smith has raised more than $77,7000 in campaign contributions, while Kramer has raised about $26,000 in donations.

Despite the public backlash Willis has received, polling shows her leading over Wise Smith. An April survey conducted by Fred Hicks, a Georgia-based political consultant, found that 79 percent of likely Democratic voters would back Willis in the primary, while 9 percent indicated they would vote for Wise Smith.

Georgia's judicial races are nonpartisan, but Democrats outnumber Republicans three to one in Fulton County. President Joe Biden won the county in 2020 with more than 75 percent of the vote, and Hillary Clinton carried it in 2016 with more than 67 percent of the vote. Fulton County, which contains most of Atlanta, has not elected a Republican presidential candidate since Richard Nixon in 1972.

Willis is the first woman to serve as Fulton County's district attorney, an office she has held since January 2021.