John J. Barrow (D) is running for Judge Andrew Pinson's seat on the Georgia Supreme Court.

Background: 

• Barrow is married to Angele Barrow. The couple have five children together and attend First Baptist Church of Athens where John sings in the choir.  
• A Blue Dog Democrat. (see: John Barrow (American politician))
• A member of the New Democratic Coalition. 
• GovTrack classified Barrow as a centrist Democrat. 
  

Employment:

• Unsuccessfully ran against Andrew Pinson for Georgia Supreme Court in 2020. 
• In 2018 was the Democratic nominee for Georgia Secretary of State. He was defeated by Brad Raffensperger (R).
• Georgia’s 12th district representative in the U.S. Congress from 2005 to 2015.

Education:

• Received J.D. from Harvard Law School.
  

Public Statements:

• When asked why he is running for Supreme Court Barrow stated,
  •  “I’m running because we need Justices on the Georgia Supreme Court who will protect the right of women and their families to make the most personal family and health care decisions they’ll ever make. Despite many fine qualities, it’s obvious from his record that the incumbent, Justice Pinson, cannot be counted on to do that. In siding with Mississippi and Alabama in the case that overturned Roe v. Wade, Pinson clearly did not represent the interests of the women and families in Georgia who are just beginning to feel the impact of that decision. We can’t expect Pinson to fight for our interests now that he’s been appointed to the only court that can stop what he helped start.”  
  • "With the federal courts withdrawing from so many of these fights – and taking the U.S. Constitution with them – the only protections Georgians have left are in our state Constitution. And the Georgia Supreme Court has the last word on what it means." 
    

Notable Bills Barrow Sponsored:

• H.R. 37, introduced January 3, 2013, a bill to repeal the employer mandate, individual mandate, and the Independent Payment Advisory Board of the PPACA, to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from awarding any type of financial assistance to any entity for the purpose of preventing or controlling air pollution if that financial assistance would be used outside of the United States, and to grant the Office of Management and Budget the authority to consolidate existing government agencies and programs if doing so would increase government efficiency. H.R. 37 also contains modified provisions of some bills sponsored by Barrow in the 112th Congress: H.R. 3121, 6144, and 6499. 
• H.R. 223, a bill to prohibit states from redrawing congressional districts more than once after each 10-year reapportionment unless ordered to do so by a court so that the districts comply with the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, introduced January 14, 2013 
• H.R. 4331, a bill to reduce the number of limousines in the federal vehicle fleet by 50%, introduced March 27, 2014 
• H.R. 4591, introduced May 7, 2014, a bill to direct the Secretary of Labor to develop a strategy to deal with the country's skill gap (which the bill defines). H.R. 4591 also contains modified provisions of some bills sponsored by Barrow in the 111th and 112th Congresses: H.R. 5594 and 4167. 

For more information on bills sponsored by Barrow see: "Representative John Barrow" Congress.gov.

Controversial Issues:

• Abortion:
  • Disagreed with the holding in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, 597 U.S. ___ (2022). (See above statement regarding why Barrow is running for Georgia Supreme Court.)
• Healthcare:
  • Barrow voted against the Affordable Health Care for American Act
  • Voted against the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. 
• Gay Rights:
  • Barrow voted to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell” and voted for Matthew Shephard Hate Crimes Act, “the measure expands the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.” 
• Same-sex marriage:
  
  • Barrow supports civil unions but opposed gay marriage. He voted to uphold the Defense of Marriage Act which allows a state to choose whether they recognize same sex marriage. 
• COVID-19 Stimulus Spending:
  • Barrow voted for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 

Misc.

• Barrow endorsed Obama during his 2008 run for Presidency. “Obama said, ‘We're going to need John Barrow back in Congress to help change Washington and get our country back on track.’” “Barrow later touted his supported from Obama in a direct-mail piece that said he works ‘hand-in-hand' with Obama.”  
  • See: Editorial Staff (November 1, 2010). "The two faces of John Barrow: Congressman peddling different messages to unsuspecting voters". August Chronicle. Augusta, Georgia.
    • Article stated, "Georgia Congressman John Barrow has revealed himself to be perhaps the most shameless, duplicitous, self-serving politician of his era. Those in the know have long realized the 12th District representative has voted as a supposed "Blue Dog" moderate Democrat primarily as a means of survival in a largely conservative district.”  
      
• Barrow received support from pro-life groups in 2007, but also “voted to allow insurance plans to offer abortion coverage, as long as it wasn't subsidized by the government.” (see: FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 884) 
• Barrow received funds in 2014 from NRA Political Victory Funds. (“The Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) is the political action committee (PAC) of the National Rifle Association of America (NRA). The Fund contributes money to political campaigns of candidates endorsed by the NRA.”) 
• After the passing of former Solicitor General of the United States Charles Fried (R), Barrow posted:
  •  "I didn’t take a class under Prof. Fried, and I regret it. What I admire most about him over the years is that, while he served in a very partisan administration, he did not blindly follow the drift in the center of gravity of that party — of either party. The parties may have drifted far from where they were in the 1980s, but he didn’t. He was at the end as he was then.Like any number of Supreme Court Justices who were thought to have “shifted” from one point on the political spectrum to another (think Warren, Brennan, Blackmun, Souter), when actually it was everyone else around them who had changed, he was constant." (see: Facebook post from January 26, 2024)