As Republicans weigh whether to move toward a state takeover of Fulton County’s elections, two former Georgia powerbrokers from opposite parties issued a joint warning: Don’t relitigate 2020 — and don’t bend the law to do it.
Former Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes and former Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss told the “Politically Georgia” podcast that the Trump administration’s fresh scrutiny of Fulton County risks undermining confidence in Georgia’s election system — and setting a precedent that could be turned against the GOP.
Their remarks came days after court documents unsealed by federal authorities showed the FBI relied on years-old claims about the 2020 election — allegations previously investigated and rejected by state and federal officials — to justify the Jan. 28 raid of Fulton County’s election office.
But for both political veterans, the bigger concern is what comes next. Barnes said the push for a takeover amounts to a “hidden agenda” that seems hardly a secret.
“What you’re doing is establishing a precedent that the Democrats could then use to take over heavily Republican counties,” he said. “That’s bad for Democrats. And that’s bad for Republicans.”
‘Better things to do’
The prospect of a takeover of Fulton’s election operations by President Donald Trump’s allies on the GOP-controlled State Election Board has hovered since a 2021 rewrite of voting laws spelled out the process.
But it sharpened after the January raid, as Democrats warned the federal investigation could be used as a pretext for state intervention even while agents scoured the facility.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Trump allies on the State Election Board have done little to allay those fears. Several have told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that a potential takeover is on the table. And some Trump supporters leaned in.
State Sen. Greg Dolezal, a GOP contender for lieutenant governor, has called on the state to take over Fulton County elections “until they prove they are capable” of administering the vote — a step both Barnes and Chambliss said would weaponize election oversight.
“If you got a problem with what Fulton County is doing, there is a process,” Chambliss said, arguing that courts already reviewed the core allegations raised after 2020 and found no basis to overturn the results.
“You can find a clerical error in probably every one of the 159 counties in some election. Humans are going to be humans, and mistakes will be made,” said Chambliss. “But they have not been magnified to the point that they have impacted the election.”
There is no evidence that Trump won Georgia in 2020. Three separate counts — two by machine and one by hand — showed Joe Biden carried the state by roughly 12,000 votes.
Credit: Alyssa Pointer / Alyssa.Pointer@ajc.com
Credit: Alyssa Pointer / Alyssa.Pointer@ajc.com
But discrepancies in Fulton’s recount, including about 880 fewer votes in the final certified tally and the later acknowledgment that thousands of ballots were scanned twice, kept suspicions alive among election skeptics.
Democrats, and some key Republicans, warn the FBI probe risks transforming administrative mistakes into criminal allegations and deepening mistrust in elections. Fulton officials have long attributed problems during the pandemic-era election to human error, mismanagement and the strain of record turnout and new voting equipment.
Neither Barnes nor Chambliss argued that Fulton’s system is flawless. But both stressed that errors have not altered results — and that the underlying 2020 claims have been litigated repeatedly.
“Surely the FBI has better things to do than to rehash things that have been litigated and have been shown to be false,” Barnes said.
‘Partisanship has limits’
The two former officials now work together through the bipartisan Democracy Defense Project, a group aimed at bolstering transparency and confidence in elections.
And they framed their message as advice for Georgia’s next governor, regardless of party: rebuild trust by respecting election results and governing across the aisle.
Chambliss urged future Georgia leaders to bring ideological rivals into the fold, arguing that the most durable policy is built through bipartisan consensus.
“I would hope that whoever is the next governor would reach across the aisle and find the right person, be it a Republican or a Democrat, to be in his kitchen cabinet,” said the Republican.
Barnes offered a more pointed directive. Accepting defeat, he said, is “the greatest thing that you can do to restore confidence.”
He described the simmering fight over Fulton County as a broader stress test for democratic norms.
“This partisanship has limits,” he said. “And one of the limits is in the rule of law.”
Credit: Jim Galloway
Credit: Jim Galloway
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