The Case for “More”: Judge Carlos Moore’s Fight for Georgia’s 13th—and Against Strongman Politics

Game Changers
Sep 27
4 min read

By Dominique Huff

In a cycle defined by anxiety and exhaustion, Judge Carlos Moore strides into Georgia’s 13th Congressional District with a promise as direct as his name: more backbone in Washington, more protection for everyday families, and more pushback against what he calls an authoritarian drift in American government. A civil-rights attorney, former municipal judge, and past president of the National Bar Association, Moore is mounting a Democratic bid to represent GA-13—an Atlanta-area seat spanning parts of Clayton, Henry, Rockdale, Newton, DeKalb, and Gwinnett counties. (davidscott.house.gov)

Moore’s argument begins with first principles: the rule of law and the separation of powers. The Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in Trump v. United States—which recognized absolute criminal immunity for a president’s “core” constitutional acts and presumptive immunity for official acts—landed like a thunderclap for many democracy advocates, Moore among them. To him, it wasn’t an academic footnote; it was a flashing warning light about concentrated executive power. (Supreme Court)

“Perilous times,” he calls this moment. In our conversation on Voices of the Village—“where change starts with conversation”—Moore sketches a government he says too often bends toward strongmen instead of citizens: emergency moves that sidestep Congress, culture-war edicts that punish the vulnerable, and budget brinkmanship that squeezes working families. His read isn’t happening in a vacuum: just this week, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries blasted the Trump administration’s tactics around funding fights, underscoring how unstable governance is rippling into daily life. (Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries)

If elected, Moore says he’ll be one of Jeffries’ “lieutenants”—a reliable vote to check executive overreach and to shore up kitchen-table guarantees like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, and universal school meals. The stakes, he argues, are visible on your receipt and in your child’s cafeteria line. (Recent high-court grants of latitude to the executive—like allowing a freeze of billions in congressionally appropriated foreign aid—only deepen his urgency to rebalance power back toward the people’s branch.) (AP News)

From the Bench to the Ballot

Moore’s résumé reads like a through-line of accountability. In 2017, on his first day as a Mississippi municipal judge, he removed the state flag from his courtroom because it bore the Confederate emblem—what he called “state-sanctioned hate speech.” It was an early, public statement about who gets to feel seen in a room where justice is rendered. (Mississippi Today)

He couples that symbolism with practical reform. As a judge, Moore launched an alternative-sentencing track for first-time, non-violent offenders—nudging teenagers toward diplomas, licenses, and jobs rather than records that shadow them for life. As a civil-rights lawyer, he’s spent two decades litigating on behalf of people too often priced out of justice. That mix of moral clarity and managerial specificity is central to his pitch in GA-13.

The District, The Deal

GA-13 is one of the nation’s most diverse districts—majority-Black, rapidly growing, and economically varied, with warehouse corridors, suburban nodes, and small-business main streets threaded across six counties. Moore’s economic plank is pragmatic: attract new industry with smarter incentives, backstop small businesses with predictable rules (including a graduated approach to wages that doesn’t crush mom-and-pop shops), and invest in modern transportation so residents can “live, work, and play” closer to home. On immigration, he favors a lawful pathway to citizenship for non-violent, long-standing residents who are already powering Georgia’s economy. (davidscott.house.gov)

A Fighter’s Theory of Change

Moore’s politics come with a parent’s edge. He talks about his newborn son and teenage daughter (who is on the autism spectrum) as reasons to make government feel less abstract and more useful: fully funded IDEA services and Title programs in schools; internships and youth councils to build a bench of local leaders; veteran care that actually delivers; and an American foreign policy that pairs Israel’s security with urgent humanitarian protections for Palestinian civilians.

He is blunt about party dynamics, too. Democrats, he says, can’t “go along to get along” and expect different outcomes. Voters want a representative who shows up—in school gyms, church pews, grocery aisles—and then shows fight in committee rooms.

The Contrast

Moore doesn’t tiptoe around the incumbent era. After decades in office, Rep. David Scott remains a towering figure in district history, but Moore argues GA-13 needs a “battle-tested litigator” for a not-normal moment—someone fluent in the Constitution and unafraid to challenge executive overreach, whoever wields it. That contrast will define a field that is likely to be crowded and competitive. (Ballot-watchers have already clocked Moore’s entry as one of the cycle’s intriguing insurgencies.) (Mississippi Free Press)

Why Now

Elections set the ceiling for what’s possible—and the floor for what’s protected. With courts redefining presidential immunity and green-lighting aggressive executive maneuvers, the next House will matter more, not less. Moore’s bet is that GA-13 wants a lawyer’s precision and a movement-builder’s voice—“all gas, no brakes,” as he likes to say—to defend Democratic norms and deliver tangible wins.

In other words: if the era is calling for more, GA-13 might answer with Moore.

Follow the campaign: Carlos Moore for Congress (official pages listed on his social profiles). (Facebook)

District reference: Official GA-13 district page (counties and map). (davidscott.house.gov)

Context on executive power: Trump v. United States (2024) decision; recent Supreme Court orders on executive spending. (Supreme Court)

Background on Moore’s judicial record: Coverage of his removal of the Confederate-emblem state flag from his courtroom. (Mississippi Today)

House leadership: Hakeem Jeffries’ current role and statements. (Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries)

Editor’s note: Quotes and positions about current events reflect the candidate’s views as shared in our Voices of the Village conversation. Where broader developments are referenced, we’ve provided source context above.

Judge Carlos Moore: Raised On Values And Solid Foundation