Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones said she considers her successful reelection after a bruising campaign as a mandate to continue policies aimed at making the criminal justice system more effective and equitable.
The 2024 election for the position of top prosecutor was a bitter fight and high in spending. Cook Jones shrugged off criticism of mismanagement and ethical sanction, as well as opposition from within the local Democratic Party leadership to her candidacy. Her Republican opponent, Andre Pretorius, in addition to outside groups spent approximately $382,000 to try to defeat her, according to campaign finance filings since October.
In spite of that, Cook Jones won with 53.39% of votes, according to unofficial vote tallies. That represents a slightly higher margin of victory than she received in 2020 when she unseated Republican incumbent Meg Heap.
Cook Jones said voters weren’t swayed by toxic politics, including political advertisements that painted Savannah and the surrounding county as beset by crime.
“They still want that reform, and they still believe that (I’m) the best candidate to deliver it,” Cook Jones told The Current, referring to local voters. “I’m encouraged by that.”
Pretorius, a county attorney and misdemeanor prosecutor, was recruited to run in the spring by Republicans and others still stung by Heap’s loss.
Pretorius himself decided to contest the race because of what he saw as Cook Jones’ lack of professionalism. He believes her office was responsible for violent crime cases being summarily dismissed and criminals released unduly on bond. On the campaign trail, however, he was unable to produce statistics to the public to back those assertions.
Cook Jones inherited an office in 2021 facing backlogs of thousands of cases due to the Covid-19 shutdown of the courts and staff turnovers that led to the dissolution of the special victims unit.
She was the target, like other progressive district attorneys in Georgia, by a new law backed by Gov. Brian Kemp creating a prosecutor’s oversight board. The most high profile progressive district attorney in Georgia, Athens-Clarke County District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez, lost her reelection race on Tuesday.
Cook Jones was victorious thanks to a wide coalition of support from deep blue pockets of voters in Savannah neighborhoods like Thomas Square, the Starland district, Carver Village, West Savannah, and Tatemville, according to the unofficial results. Other diverse parts of the county like Garden City, Liberty City and Georgetown helped as well.
Cook Jones saw support fall off among some of Savannah’s wealthy downtown residents, who split their vote in the DA’s race. For example, the majority of votes cast at Temple Mickve Israel went to Kamala Harris for president, and Pretorius for district attorney.
Pretorius said the campaign was “grueling,” especially running as a Republican in a Democratic-majority county.
“My relief is not that I won or lost. I am happy that the campaign is done and that I can now move on and go back to normal, crazy life,” he said. Pretorius has already returned to his job with the county attorney’s office.
The next four years
Cook Jones said her first term was occupied with getting “the machine up and running,” prosecuting cases and making sure there was enough staff to manage it all.
Her second-term, she says, will be focused on goals enunciated throughout her campaigns. Those include beefing up initiatives like the cold case and conviction integrity units, expanding victim advocacy, advocating for criminal justice reform at the state capitol and helping people who return from prison not recommit crimes.
On Wednesday, Pretorius reached out over text to congratulate her. Cook Jones said while the campaign cycle was hard on her and her family, she hopes for more unity in Chatham County going forward.
“I hope that our democratic process is turning back to a place where it’s civil and it’s professional, and we know that it’s not about attacking people,” she said. “It’s about promoting good policy and programs and prosecution.”