ATLANTA— Fulton County District. Lawyer. Fani Willis, the Georgia prosecutor who brought charges against former President Donald Trump for his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, has won her re-election bid.

Willis, a Democrat, defeated Republican rival Courtney Kramer, who had interned in the White House counsel’s office during Trump’s presidency and is active in Republican organizations. Fulton County, which is home to 11% of the state’s electorate and includes most of the city of Atlanta, is a Democratic stronghold.

Willis took office in January 2021 after defeating his predecessor and former chief, the long-serving District. Lawyer. Paul Howard in a bitter fight in the 2020 Democratic primary. He had no Republican opponent in the general election in November of that year.

He made headlines just a month into his term when he announced in February 2021 that he was investigating whether Trump and others broke any laws in trying to overturn his narrow loss in the state to Democrat Joe Biden. Two and a half years later, after an investigation that included calling dozens of witnesses before a special grand jury, he obtained a sprawling racketeering indictment against Trump and 18 others in August 2023.

Four people pleaded guilty after reaching deals with prosecutors. Trump and the others who remain have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.

That case is largely on hold while Trump and other defendants appeal a judge’s ruling allowing Willis to continue prosecuting the case. They argue that a romantic relationship Willis had with a special prosecutor he had hired to lead the prosecution created a conflict of interest. The Georgia Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments on December 5.

The election interference prosecution has made Willis a target of Republican attacks and investigations. Trump has repeatedly criticized her during public appearances and on social media. And state and federal lawmakers have opened investigations into how he runs his office.

Willis has also used the state’s racketeering law to prosecute alleged gang activity, including a high-profile case against rapper Young Thug. That case has been stalled by problems that dragged on for nearly two years. Jury selection took nearly 10 months and opening statements were made a year ago this month. Young Thug and three other defendants pleaded guilty last week to the charges against them, but two defendants remain on trial.

While Willis is a Democrat, he does not fit into the group of progressive prosecutors elected in jurisdictions across the country in recent years. Some left-wing critics believe she is overzealous in her use of the state’s organized crime and gang laws, unnecessarily complicating cases to get harsher penalties attached to those statutes.

Progressive attorney Christian Wise Smith challenged Willis in the May Democratic primary, but she easily defeated him. Kramer ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

Brumback writes for the Associated Press.