Atlanta lawyer announces plan to run for state attorney general

ATLANTA — An Atlanta lawyer and voting rights advocate has entered the race for Georgia attorney general.

Christian Wise Smith declared his candidacy Thursday to seek the Democratic nomination to challenge incumbent Republican Attorney General Chris Carr.

“I believe in the basic promise that our country was built on — that God created all people equal and that justice and opportunity should exist for everyone,” Smith said. “But I know that right now in Georgia, we aren’t doing enough to live up to that promise.

“An attorney general has to know when to bring the full weight of justice to the dangerous and the corrupt, when to give someone a second chance … and have the courage to fight back when the right to vote is under attack.”

Smith is a former assistant city solicitor in Atlanta and a former prosecutor in Fulton County.

He also is the founder and president of the National Social Justice Alliance, where he works to address issues of equity in citizenship and voting, and to educate young Georgians about the importance of participating in elections.

Smith also wrote “Wise Up Adventure Series: Chris and Key Go Vote,” a children’s book about voting.

The Cincinnati native now lives in Sandy Springs.

Smith joins state Sen. Jen Jordan of Atlanta in the Democratic field for attorney general. Charlie Bailey, a former Democratic candidate for Georgia’s top lawyer, dropped out of the race recently to run instead for lieutenant governor.