Governor Brian Kemp signed House Bill 369 Tuesday, which makes elections for some local offices nonpartisan in five metro Atlanta counties starting in 2028.
District attorney, county commission and tax commissioner elections will be impacted in Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cobb and Clayton Counties.
All five counties voted solidly Democrat in the 2024 Presidential election, with over 71% in Fulton County, almost 82% in DeKalb County, and 84% in Clayton County voting blue, making them some of the biggest Democratic strongholds in the state.
Supporters of the bill said its purpose is to remove politics from the voting process, but many Democrats questioned the intent.
Democrats started calling for Gov. Kemp to veto the bill at the beginning of April, when it passed Congress and made its way to Gov. Kemp's desk. Opponents argued it would disproportionately impact Democrats and make it harder for people less informed on local politics to vote.
DeKalb County CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson was one of the first to speak out against the bill once it passed the legislature.
"This legislation erases party affiliation from the ballot, which does not create fairer elections," she wrote in an April 1 Instagram post calling for Gov. Kemp to veto the bill. "It creates confusion, and an informed electorate has never been more important."
Shortly after the bill was signed Tuesday, the Georgia Senate Democrats released a statement condemning its passage.
🚨 Minority Leader Harold Jones II released the following statement on the signing of HB 369:
“Republicans just couldn’t beat 5 tough-on-crime Democratic Black women at the ballot box.”#gapol pic.twitter.com/w4tmehtOlL— Georgia Senate Democrats (@GASenateDems) May 13, 2026
"Governor Kemp has signed the unconstitutional, nonsensical, and racist HB 369," the statement from Minority Leader Harold Jones II said. "Republicans just couldn't beat 5 tough-on-crime Democratic Black women at the ballot box."
The district attorneys in all five impacted counties are Democratic women of color.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston issued a joint statement Tuesday with their plans to challenge the law in court.
