Athens lawyer and former Rep. John Barrow, D-Georgia, is a veteran campaigner. He served 14 years on the Athens-Clarke County Commission before being elected to Congress from his home district. And he was the Democratic runner-up for Georgia secretary of state last year.

Barrow and Georgia Court of Appeals Presiding Judge Sara Doyle are already campaigning for election in May 2020 for the seat that will be opened by Justice Robert Benham's planned retirement in December. More candidates may come before the qualifying period next spring.

Benham will reach the state's mandatory retirement age for appellate judges of 75 soon after the next term would begin. Benham is the longest-serving member—appointed by Gov. Joe Frank Harris in 1989—and the first African American justice. His departure will leave the court with only one African American member: Chief Justice Harold Melton. The court has only one woman: Justice Sarah Warren, appointed by Gov. Nathan Deal last year.

While Barrow wouldn't change the nearly all-white male makeup of the court, he is campaigning on geographic diversity. He has noted that only two currently serving justices come from south of the fall line, and none is from the northeast part of the state: east of Interstate 75 and north of Interstate 16.

Barrow is the son of a longtime superior court judge in Athens. He graduated from the University of Georgia in his hometown, then went on to Harvard Law School for his J.D. He became a member of the State Bar of Georgia in 1979, practicing in Athens.

Barrow served for 14 years on the Athens-Clarke County Commission before running for Congress to represent that district. In his 10 years in Washington, he took pride in his bipartisan efforts during an increasingly divided time. He earned the Democratic nomination for secretary of state in 2018 but lost out to the Republican.

Judicial elections are nonpartisan in Georgia. The vote will be held during the May 19 primary. Atlanta lawyer and former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Evans is chairing Barrow's campaign. Former Judicial Nomination Commission chair and King & Spalding partner Pete Robinson is Barrow's campaign treasurer.

Barrow and his wife, Angèle, divide their time between their home in Atlanta and his great-great-great-grandfather's home in Athens, where they attend the First Baptist Church.