Bill Cowsert becomes second Republican to enter 2026 race for Georgia attorney general
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia state Sen. Bill Cowsert of Athens announced Wednesday that he would run for state attorney general, becoming the second Republican to join the race.
Current Republican Attorney General Chris Carr is running for governor in 2026, meaning the seat will be open. State Sen. Brian Strickland of McDonough has also filed papers to run. No Democrats have yet announced they will seek the office.
Cowsert has served in the Senate since 2007 and now represents parts of Athens-Clarke, Oconee, Walton, Barrow and Gwinnett counties. The brother-in-law of Gov. Brian Kemp, he served four years as Senate majority leader from 2014 to 2018.
He took a tough partisan line in his announcement. While attorney general has traditionally been an office that represented the state in lawsuits, the office has acquired increasing criminal prosecution powers in recent years, and Cowsert pledged to fight gangs and human trafficking if elected.
'I envision a Georgia where our families are safe, and illegal immigrants, sex traffickers, violent gangs and fentanyl pushers are too afraid to cross the state line,' Cowsert said in a statement.
He also touted his leadership of a state Senate committee that has been seeking to force Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to testify about whether she did anything wrong in her investigation and prosecution of President Donald Trump and others.
That committee's efforts thus far have disclosed little that wasn't already known about Willis and her hiring of special prosecutor Nathan Wade, with whom she had a romantic relationship, to lead the prosecution against Trump and others.
At least nine of Georgia's 56 state senators are considering a run for higher office in 2026.
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