Incumbent Chris Carr (R) defeated Jen Jordan (D) and Martin Cowen (L) in the race for attorney general of Georgia on November 8, 2022.

In September 2022, Sabato's Crystal Ball released an analysis of state attorney general election competitiveness, rating Georgia's attorney general election as somewhat competitive. The report stated, "Carr has avoided the worst of the intra-party strife between establishment Republicans and Trump-aligned Republicans in Georgia, which were fueled by the party’s narrow losses in the presidential and senatorial races in 2020....The Democrats are running a credible candidate, state Sen. Jen Jordan. (There’s also a Libertarian on the ballot, which potentially puts a post-election runoff into play.)." Click here to read the full analysis.^[1]

Former Governor Nathan Deal (R) appointed Carr as attorney general after the former officeholder, Samuel S. Olens (R), resigned in 2016. Carr was then elected to the position in 2018. His prior experience included serving as the commissioner of the Department of Economic Development and as chief of staff to U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson (R). Carr said his job as attorney general is to uphold the laws and constitution and to “represent the interests of the people in our state. It is not our job to make the law or to interpret the law.”^[2]^[3]

Jordan represented District 4 in the Georgia State Senate from 2017 to 2023. According to Jordan’s campaign website, “For the last 20 years, she has been actively practicing law, and for the last decade, she has had her own law firm.”^[4] Jordan said she ran for attorney general because the position “is supposed to be independent, independent of the governor, independent of the General Assembly."^[2]

Jordan’s campaign focused on her opposition to a 2019 abortion law known as HB481. According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, HB481 “bans most abortions once a doctor can detect fetal cardiac activity, which is typically at about six weeks into pregnancy.”^[5] The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals declared this law unconstitutional in 2020 and then reversed itself in 2022 after the Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme Court decision was released.^[6] Jordan said she would not use the state’s resources to defend the law against legal challenges if elected attorney general. She said the law violated the right to privacy in Georgia’s constitution. “I believe in enforcing all state laws, but my primary obligation is to enforce our state’s constitution…That’s the oath that I took as a lawyer and as an elected official.”^[2] Jordan said she opposed the law because it included a personhood clause that granted full citizenship rights to embryos. She said, "There are some serious legal issues with this law that are going to end up not only impacting people but end up hurting people."^[2]^[5]

Carr criticized Jordan’s refusal to defend HB481. Carr called it a dereliction of duty, saying, “It's OK to disagree with the law of the state of Georgia or the United States. You go to Congress. In Georgia, you run for the legislature. Or in her case, you don't quit.”^[2]^[5] Carr’s campaign focused on his office’s anti-gang prosecution unit, which was created in July 2022. Discussing the unit’s first two indictments, Carr said, “Who are the communities that are most often terrorized by gangs? Lower income, racially diverse and immigrant populations…I don’t care if you live in southwest Georgia, southwest Atlanta, Buckhead or Blairsville, each and every Georgian deserves to be safe.”^[7]

U.S. News & World Report identified this race as one of the most expensive down-ballot races in 2022.^[8] November filings with the Georgia Government Transparency & Campaign Finance Commission showed Carr leading the field in fundraising with nearly $5 million, Jordan with nearly $3.5 million, and Cowen with more than $3,000.^[9] Polls taken throughout the race consistently showed Carr leading the field as well.^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13]

This was one of 30 elections for attorney general taking place in 2022. All 50 states have an attorney general who serves as the state's chief legal officer, responsible for enforcing state law and offering the state government advice on legal matters. In 43 states, the office was, at the time of the 2022 elections, an elected post. At the time of the 2022 elections, there were 27 Republican attorneys general and 23 Democratic attorneys general. Click here for an overview of all 30 attorney general elections that took place in 2022. A state government triplex refers to a situation where the governor, attorney general, and secretary of state are all members of the same political party. Heading into the 2022 elections, there were 23 Republican triplexes, 18 Democratic triplexes, and nine divided governments where neither party held triplex control. As of 2022, Georgia had a Republican triplex.

Incumbent Chris Carr won election in the general election for Attorney General of Georgia.

For more information about the primaries in this election, click on the links below:

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for Attorney General of Georgia

Incumbent Chris Carr defeated Jen Jordan and Martin Cowen in the general election for Attorney General of Georgia on November 8, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Chris Carr (R)	51.9	2,032,500
	Jen Jordan (D)	46.6	1,826,437
	Martin Cowen (L)	1.5	60,107

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,919,044
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Attorney General of Georgia

Jen Jordan defeated Christian Wise Smith in the Democratic primary for Attorney General of Georgia on May 24, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Jen Jordan	77.6	533,266
	Christian Wise Smith	22.4	153,928

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 687,194
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Charlie Bailey (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Attorney General of Georgia

Incumbent Chris Carr defeated John Gordon in the Republican primary for Attorney General of Georgia on May 24, 2022.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Chris Carr	73.7	834,383
	John Gordon	26.3	297,037

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,131,420
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Voting information

See also: Voting in Michigan

Election information in Michigan: Nov. 8, 2022, election.

What was the voter registration deadline?

In-person: Nov. 8, 2022
By mail: Postmarked by Oct. 24, 2022
Online: Oct. 24, 2022

Was absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

N/A

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

In-person: Nov. 7, 2022
By mail: Received by Nov. 4, 2022
Online: Nov. 4, 2022

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

In-person: Nov. 8, 2022
By mail: Received by Nov. 8, 2022

Was early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What were the early voting start and end dates?

Sep. 29, 2022 to Nov. 7, 2022

Were all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, was a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When were polls open on Election Day?

N/A

Candidate comparison

Candidate profiles

This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.

Chris Carr

Party: Republican Party

Incumbent: Yes

Submitted Biography: "Chris Carr has served as Georgia’s Attorney General since 2016 with a mission of protecting Georgians’ lives, livelihoods and liberties. As Attorney General, Chris has built a strong, conservative record of prosecuting criminals, keeping the economy open, defending Georgia’s election integrity law, supporting law enforcement, protecting Georgians’ liberties, going after fraud and corruption, and fighting back against the liberal Stacey Abrams-Joe Biden agenda. I was appointed Attorney General in 2016 by Governor Nathan Deal. In 2018, he was elected statewide to a full, four-year term. I am now seeking reelection in 2022 to another four-year term. Before becoming Attorney General, I served for three years as Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, and Georgia was named the No. 1 state in the nation for business all three years I was Commissioner. Prior to that, I served as Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia for six years. My wife Joan and I have two daughters, and I am a graduate of the University of Georgia business and law schools. "

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

I work every day to protect Georgians' lives, livelihoods and liberties. I have created Georgia's first-ever human trafficking prosecution unit that has rescued more than 107 underage victims. Now, we are creating the state's first gang prosecution unit so that the state can help combat the violent gangs that terrorize communities.

I am working every day to protect livelihoods, because I know the importance of maintaining Georgia’s stable and reliable legal and regulatory environment so that businesses can thrive. I worked to keep Georgia’s economy and schools open during Covid by fighting back against the Biden administration’s vaccine and mask mandates. I also have pushed back on Biden's weakening of our Southern border and on Biden's attempts to shut down the oil and gas industry.

In protecting Georgians’ liberties, I have fought back against egregious federal overreach from Washington, including Biden’s vaccine mandates and Biden’s demand that the FBI conduct surveillance on parents who challenge their local school boards. I have also fought strenuously to protect Georgians’ 2nd Amendment rights and to protect the unborn through vigorous defense of Georgia’s Heartbeat Bill in court.

This information was current as of the candidate's run for Attorney General of Georgia in 2022.

Jen Jordan

Party: Democratic Party

Incumbent: No

Political Office:

Georgia Senate District 4 (2017 - Present)

Biography: Jordan earned a J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law in 2001 and a B.A. in political science and government from Georgia Southern University in 1997. Jordan's career experience includes serving as a law partner at Shamp Jordan Woodward and The Jordan Firm, LLC. She served on the Board of Governors for the State Bar of Georgia and was elected to the state senate in 2017.

Key Messages

The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.

Jordan said she will be an attorney general that “fights every day for Georgians who don’t have power, money, or status.” She said she will “fight to give people a voice, who just need a fair shot to get ahead…from defending voting rights, to protecting consumers, to ensuring access to quality, affordable health care, to fighting for environmental justice and working to reform the criminal justice system.”

Jordan opposed the HB481abortion law while in the state senate, saying it violates the right to privacy in Georgia’s constitution. “I believe in enforcing all state laws, but my primary obligation is to enforce our state’s constitution…There are some serious legal issues with this law that are going to end up not only impacting people but end up hurting people."

Jordan said the position of attorney general “is supposed to be independent, independent of the governor, independent of the General Assembly."

Show sources

Sources: Axios, "What's going on in the Georgia attorney general race?," October 17, 2022; Jen Jordan campaign website, “About Jen,” accessed October 20, 2022; Vote Smart, "Jen Jordan's Biography," accessed October 15, 2019

This information was current as of the candidate's run for Attorney General of Georgia in 2022.

Martin Cowen

Party: Libertarian Party

Incumbent: No

Submitted Biography: "Martin Cowen attended the 1972 Georgia Libertarian State Party Convention. Freedom is the protection of private property rights by the rule of law. As Georgia Attorney General, unlike my opponents, I understand the meaning of Freedom and I will bring that understanding to the offic.e"

Key Messages

To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.

No knock warrants are intolerable.

Qualified immunity should be abolished.

I support "peace" officers. I oppose "RoboCops."

This information was current as of the candidate's run for Attorney General of Georgia in 2022.

Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses

Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Survey responses from candidates in this race

Click on a candidate's name to visit their Ballotpedia page.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

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Chris Carr (R)

I work every day to protect Georgians' lives, livelihoods and liberties. I have created Georgia's first-ever human trafficking prosecution unit that has rescued more than 107 underage victims. Now, we are creating the state's first gang prosecution unit so that the state can help combat the violent gangs that terrorize communities.

I am working every day to protect livelihoods, because I know the importance of maintaining Georgia’s stable and reliable legal and regulatory environment so that businesses can thrive. I worked to keep Georgia’s economy and schools open during Covid by fighting back against the Biden administration’s vaccine and mask mandates. I also have pushed back on Biden's weakening of our Southern border and on Biden's attempts to shut down the oil and gas industry.

In protecting Georgians’ liberties, I have fought back against egregious federal overreach from Washington, including Biden’s vaccine mandates and Biden’s demand that the FBI conduct surveillance on parents who challenge their local school boards. I have also fought strenuously to protect Georgians’ 2nd Amendment rights and to protect the unborn through vigorous defense of Georgia’s Heartbeat Bill in court.

Georgia Attorney General election, 2022: General election polls
Poll	Date	Carr	Jordan	Undecided/Other	Margin of error	Sample size^[16]	Sponsor^[17]
Landmark Communications	November 4-7, 2022	47.4 %	42.7 %	9.9 %^[18]	± 2.8	1,214 LV
Survey USA	October 29 - November 2, 2022	42 %	38 %	20 %^[19]	± 3.7	1,171 LV	11 Alive Atlanta
University of Georgia	October 16-27, 2022	48.8 %	42.1 %	9.1 %^[20]	± 2.9	1,022 LV	The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Landmark Communications	October 15-17, 2022	47.4 %	40.0 %	12.7 %^[21]	± 4.4	500 LV	Atlanta News First
Trafalgar Group	October 8-11, 2022	45.7 %	36.5 %	17.3 %^[22]	± 2.9	1,084 LV

Click [show] to see older poll results
Survey USA	September 30-October 4, 2022	40 %	36 %	24 %^[23]	± 3.7	1,076 LV	11 Alive News Atlanta
Atlanta Journal-Constitution	September 25 - October 4, 2022	47.4 %	38.8 %	13.8 %^[24]	± 3.1	1,030 LV

Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index for Georgia, 2022
District	Incumbent	Party	PVI
Georgia's 1st	Buddy Carter	Republican	R+9
Georgia's 2nd	Sanford Bishop	Democratic	D+3
Georgia's 3rd	Drew Ferguson	Republican	R+18
Georgia's 4th	Hank Johnson	Democratic	D+27
Georgia's 5th	Nikema Williams	Democratic	D+32
Georgia's 6th	Open	Democratic	R+11
Georgia's 7th	Carolyn Bourdeaux / Lucy McBath	Democratic	D+10
Georgia's 8th	Austin Scott	Republican	R+16
Georgia's 9th	Andrew Clyde	Republican	R+22
Georgia's 10th	Open	Republican	R+15
Georgia's 11th	Barry Loudermilk	Republican	R+11
Georgia's 12th	Rick Allen	Republican	R+8
Georgia's 13th	David Scott	Democratic	D+28
Georgia's 14th	Marjorie Taylor Greene	Republican	R+22

2020 presidential results in congressional districts based on 2022 district lines, Georgia^[25]
District	Joe Biden	Donald Trump
Georgia's 1st	42.6%	56.0%
Georgia's 2nd	54.7%	44.4%
Georgia's 3rd	34.4%	64.4%
Georgia's 4th	78.3%	20.6%
Georgia's 5th	82.6%	16.2%
Georgia's 6th	41.8%	56.7%
Georgia's 7th	62.3%	36.5%
Georgia's 8th	35.7%	63.3%
Georgia's 9th	30.4%	68.3%
Georgia's 10th	37.7%	61.1%
Georgia's 11th	41.5%	56.8%
Georgia's 12th	44.3%	54.5%
Georgia's 13th	79.7%	19.3%
Georgia's 14th	30.7%	68.1%

County-level voting pattern categories
Democratic
Status	2012	2016	2020
Solid Democratic	D	D	D
Trending Democratic	R	D	D
Battleground Democratic	D	R	D
New Democratic	R	R	D
Republican
Status	2012	2016	2020
Solid Republican	R	R	R
Trending Republican	D	R	R
Battleground Republican	R	D	R
New Republican	D	D	R

Georgia county-level statistics, 2020
Solid Republican	122	45.4%
Solid Democratic	27	35.4%
Trending Democratic	3	18.3%
Trending Republican	6	0.6%
New Republican	1	0.2%
Total voted Democratic	30	53.8%
Total voted Republican	129	46.2%

U.S. Senate election results in Georgia
Race	Winner	Runner up
2020	51.0%	49.0%
2020	50.6%	49.4%
2016	54.8%	41.0%
2014	52.9%	45.2%
2010	58.1%	39.2%
Average	53.5	44.8

Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Georgia, November 2022
Party	U.S. Senate	U.S. House	Total
Democratic	2	6	8
Republican	0	8	8
Independent	0	0	0
Vacancies	0	0	0
Total	2	14	16

State executive officials in Georgia, November 2022
Office	Officeholder
Governor	Brian Kemp
Lieutenant Governor	Geoff Duncan
Secretary of State	Brad Raffensperger
Attorney General	Chris Carr

Party		As of November 2022
	Democratic Party	75
	Republican Party	103
	Independent	0
	Vacancies	2
Total		180

Gubernatorial election results in Georgia
Race	Winner	Runner up
2018	50.2%	48.8%
2014	52.7%	44.9%
2010	53.0%	43.0%
2006	58.0%	38.2%
2002	51.4%	46.3%
Average	53.1	44.2

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Governor	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
Senate	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

Demographic Data for Georgia
	Georgia	United States
Population	10,711,908	331,449,281
Land area (sq mi)	57,716	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White	57.2%	70.4%
Black/African American	31.6%	12.6%
Asian	4.1%	5.6%
Native American	0.3%	0.8%
Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.2%
Other (single race)	2.9%	5.1%
Multiple	3.7%	5.2%
Hispanic/Latino	9.6%	18.2%
Education
High school graduation rate	87.9%	88.5%
College graduation rate	32.2%	32.9%
Income
Median household income	$61,224	$64,994
Persons below poverty level	14.3%	12.8%
Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2015-2020).
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Charlie Bailey	100.0	456,105

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,862,370
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 456,105
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 475,122
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Georgia Attorney General, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Samuel S. Olens Incumbent	56.9%	1,436,987
	Democratic	Greg Hecht	43.1%	1,087,268
Total Votes				2,524,255
Election results via Georgia Secretary of State

Demographic data for Georgia
	Georgia	U.S.
Total population:	10,199,398	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	57,513	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	60.2%	73.6%
Black/African American:	30.9%	12.6%
Asian:	3.6%	5.1%
Native American:	0.3%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.1%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	9.1%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	85.4%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	28.8%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$49,620	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	21.1%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Georgia. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Georgia	State Executive Elections	News and Analysis

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Georgia Attorney General election, 2022