Election 2020: Unofficial tally shows Columbus DA challenger wins 6-county judicial race
Columbus lawyer Mark Jones has defeated incumbent District Attorney Julia Slater in the race for chief prosecutor in the six-county Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit based in Columbus, according to unofficial results.
The final tally left Jones with 52% of the vote to Slater’s 48%.
The circuit’s other counties include Chattahoochee, Harris, Marion, Talbot and Taylor.
Early results showed Jones leading Slater these counties:
- In Chattahoochee County, Jones led Slater 234 votes to 225.
- In Muscogee, with all 25 precincts reporting Wednesday evening, Jones had 13,574 to Slater’s 11,249.
Slater had the lead in these areas:
- She led Jones in Marion County 422 votes to Jones’ 287.
- In Taylor County, Slater had 508 votes to Jones’ 209.
- In Talbot County, Slater had 781 to Jones’ 613.
In Harris County, Slater had 1,485 votes to Jones’ 1,149.
The final, unofficial totals from all returns available around 4:50 p.m. Wednesday gave Jones a lead of 16,066 over Slater’s 14,670.
Count suspended
Shortly after 1 a.m., the vote count was suspended overnight in Muscogee and in Harris County, and resumed later Wednesday morning.
The race was decided in Tuesday’s Democratic Primary because no Republican qualified to seek the post in November.
Jones, 38, made headlines recently because of his arrest stemming from the May 17 filming of a campaign ad at the Columbus Civic Center, where he’s alleged to have recruited two custom-car enthusiasts to cut doughnuts in the parking lot. Authorities claimed the tire marks left there caused more than $300,000 damage.
Jones also has been in the news for representing protesters police arrested after a May 31 downtown demonstration against racial injustice.
Jones did not respond to a Ledger-Enquirer election survey that asked him for biographical information.
His campaign Facebook page said that he has been practicing law for 13 years, and that he pledged to resolve all murder cases within 12 months, to start a pretrial diversion program for less serious offenses that don’t involve violence or a child victim, and to allow no bonds for violent offenders or those accused of crimes against children.
Elected in 2008, Slater, 53, has been practicing law for 25 years, 20 as a prosecutor. She was in private practice for five years, in criminal defense, and also serving as a guardian for abused and neglected children and occasionally as judge pro-temp for juvenile court. She started in 1994 as an assistant district attorney.
This story was originally published June 10, 2020 at 12:38 AM.