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Endorses Brown
The race
Georgia Court of Appeals, Brown seat, was decided in the nonpartisan election of May 19, 2026: Chief Judge E. Trenton Brown III defeated Will Wooten, 63.8% to 36.2%. Nonpartisan ballot; alignment inferred from appointment and endorsements, disclosed here.
E. Trenton Brown III — Incumbent, now Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals. Appointed by Republican Governor Nathan Deal in 2018 from the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit superior court bench; before that Putnam County state court judge (UGA; Mercer law). His court authored the disqualification ruling that removed Fulton County DA Fani Willis from the Trump election-interference prosecution — a ruling the Georgia Supreme Court let stand 4–3 by declining review, after which the replacement prosecutor dismissed the charges. Whatever one's politics, the documented act was an appellate court applying conflict-of-interest law to a prosecutor; it is the most consequential ruling attached to any name in this batch.
Will Wooten — Challenger. Fulton County deputy district attorney who led the white-collar crimes unit, co-founded DA Fani Willis's LGBTQ+ advisory committee, and served on the team that prosecuted Donald Trump on election-interference charges — running, in the reporting's own framing, against "the judge whose ruling helped end" that prosecution. Endorsed by the Democratic Party of Georgia, Georgia AFL-CIO, Georgia Conservation Voters, Georgia Equality, the LGBTQ Victory Fund, and Young Democrats of Georgia.
Pros and cons
Brown: Credits: Trial judge at two levels before the appellate bench, now chief judge; the Willis disqualification shows a willingness to rule against a powerful local prosecutor where the law of conflicts pointed — against his own political side's short-term interest in a quiet life. Dirt/limits: No ethics file surfaced; his fundraising drew plaintiff-side trial-lawyer money documented in opposition research — noted, unproven as influence, and priced as such. Wooten: Credits: A working prosecutor leading a white-collar unit — real courtroom responsibility. Dirt/limits: Never a judge; his candidacy's public meaning was a rematch over the Trump prosecution his office lost on a conflicts ruling — asking voters to relitigate a legal judgment at the ballot box is the progressive judicial project in miniature.
OUR CALL
Our call: endorse E. Trenton Brown III. Inference basis disclosed: Deal appointee elevated from two trial benches, sustained by a statewide two-to-one verdict, with a proven record of applying the law to a politically protected prosecutor. Wooten's prosecutorial service is credited; his campaign's premise is not restraint.
Vote E. Trenton Brown III.
For the complete Election 2026 breakdown — every race, claim by claim — see the full coverage on our website. Vote early. Research your candidates. Choose the best moderates, whatever their party — no extremism from either side. And encourage your friends and family to do the same. --- Sources — 2026 Georgia Court of Appeals elections — candidates, endorsements, results — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Georgia_Court_of_Appeals_elections • Valdosta CEO — Governor Deal's 2018 appointments (Brown and Gobeil backgrounds) — http://valdostaceo.com/news/2018/05/governor-deal-announces-judicial-appointments/ • Factually — Brown v. Wooten race summary (Willis disqualification; Wooten's role) — https://factually.co/fact-checks/politics/georgia-election-trenton-brown-vs-will-wooten-5c38e6 • Law.com/Daily Report — deputy DA challenges Judge Brown, March 6, 2026 — https://www.law.com/dailyreportonline/2026/03/06/deputy-da-challenges-judge-for-seat-on-georgia-court-of-appeals/ • Judicial Council of Georgia — Brown as Chief Judge, July 2026 — https://jcaoc.georgiacourts.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Judicial-Council-Members_July26.pdf AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.