Thurbert Earl Baker (born December 16, 1952) served as the first African American

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

of the U.S. state of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. He was appointed to the position in 1997 by Governor

Zell Miller Zell Bryan Miller (February 24, 1932 – March 23, 2018) was an American politician who served as the 79th governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999 and as a United States senator representing the state from 2000 to 2005. He was a member of the Dem ...

and served until January 10, 2011. Governor Zell Miller installed Thurbert Baker (at the time his chief lieutenant in the Georgia House of Representatives) as attorney general on June 1, 1997, making him the first African-American to hold that job in Georgia and the only black state attorney general in the country at the time. Baker was subsequently elected to the position three times as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

. In the 2006 general election, Baker received more votes—and a higher percentage of the vote—than any other Democrat running statewide in Georgia, being one of three Democrats to win statewide that year (the other two being Agriculture Commissioner

Tommy Irvin Thomas Telford Irvin (July 14, 1929 – September 14, 2017) was an American politician who served as Georgia's Commissioner of Agriculture from 1969 until January 2011. Irvin holds a record as the longest-serving Commissioner of Agriculture in ...

and Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond). These three would remain the last Democrats to win statewide in Georgia until

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, when

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

narrowly carried the state in his successful presidential bid. Baker served the fourth-longest tenure as Attorney General in state history (behind Eugene Cook, Arthur K. Bolton and Michael J. Bowers).

Legislature

Baker served in the

Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republican Party (United States), Repu ...

from 1989 to 1997. From 1993, until his appointment as Attorney General, he was the Miller Administration's House Floor Leader. During his legislative tenure, Baker sponsored several significant legislative initiatives. Chief among those were the

HOPE Scholarship The Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally (HOPE) Program is a scholarship and grant initiative established in Georgia in 1993. Under the guidance of then- Governor Zell Miller, the program was designed to provide financial aid to exceptional ...

and the "Two Strikes and You're Out" law, designed to put the worst repeat violent felons in prison for life without parole.

Attorney General

Baker served as the President of the

National Association of Attorneys General The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of state and territory attorneys general in the United States which therefore means that the United States Attorney General in the federal government is n ...

from 2006 to 2007. As Attorney General, Baker focused on initiatives to fight crime and fraud, including stronger laws against sexual predators who use the Internet to target children, laws against financial identity theft, and stronger laws against residential mortgage fraud. He also advocated for the abolition of parole for persons convicted of violent crimes, which the

Georgia General Assembly The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are directl ...

did not enact. In 2003, Baker and Governor

Sonny Perdue George Ervin "Sonny" Perdue III (born December 20, 1946) is an American politician, veterinarian, and businessman who served as the 31st United States secretary of agriculture from 2017 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party (United States), ...

clashed in court, with both claiming the right to control the state's legal affairs. The controversy involved

gerrymandering Gerrymandering, ( , originally ) defined in the contexts of Representative democracy, representative electoral systems, is the political manipulation of Boundary delimitation, electoral district boundaries to advantage a Political party, pa ...

, and arose when Perdue ordered Baker to drop an appeal of a case involving a legal challenge to a legislative redistricting map drawn by the Democratic legislative majority and signed into law by Perdue's Democratic predecessor,

Roy Barnes Roy Eugene Barnes (born March 11, 1948)Cook, James F. (2005). ''The Governors of Georgia, 1754-2004, 3rd Edition, Revised and Expanded.'' Macon, GA: Mercer University Press. is an American attorney and politician who served as the 80th governo ...

. When Baker refused to drop the appeal, Perdue sued him. The Supreme Court of Georgia ultimately sided with Baker, ruling 5-2 that the Attorney General, as an elected constitutional officer, is independent of the Governor and has the power to control the state government's legal affairs. In 2010, Perdue and Baker clashed again when Perdue asked Baker to sue the federal government over the passage of the federal

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health ...

("Obama Care"). Baker declined, arguing that he saw no legal basis for the suit, believed it would ultimately fail, and decrying it as "frivolous" and a "waste of taxpayer money". In response, Perdue appointed a "special" Attorney General for that purpose. Some Republican state lawmakers subsequently introduced legislation to impeach Baker for his refusal.

2010 gubernatorial campaign

In 2010, Baker ran for governor. He was defeated in the Democratic primary by former governor

.AJC: Statewide election results
Barnes was defeated in the general election, later that year, in a Republican sweep of statewide offices.

Personal

Baker was born in

Rocky Mount, North Carolina Rocky Mount is a city in Nash and Edgecombe counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The city's population was 54,341 as of the 2020 census, making it the 20th-most populous city in North Carolina. The city is east of Raleigh, the st ...

in 1952. He grew up with

Mike Easley Michael Francis Easley (born March 23, 1950) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the List of Governors of North Carolina, 72nd governor of North Carolina from 2001 to 2009. He is the first governor of North Carolina to have been ...

, the former

Governor of North Carolina The governor of North Carolina is the head of government of the United States, U.S. state of North Carolina. Seventy-five people have held the office since the first state governor, Richard Caswell, took office in 1777. The governor serves a ...

and former

Attorney General of North Carolina The attorney general of North Carolina is a statewide elected office in the United States, U.S. state of North Carolina. The attorney general is a state constitutional officer, constitutional officer responsible for representing state agencies i ...

Roy Cooper Roy Asberry Cooper III ( ; born June 13, 1957) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 75th List of governors of North Carolina, governor of North Carolina from 2017 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), De ...

, another former

and current Governor of North Carolina, and Gregory O. Griffin, the current Chief Legal Counsel for the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles. While attending the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

, Baker was on the

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

team, and won the 1975

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

(ACC) individual

sabre A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...

championship. In 2002, the ACC recognized him as one of the best fencers in its history, naming him to its 50th anniversary

team. Baker moved to Georgia in the 1970s to practice law. Baker and his wife, Catherine, an educator, reside in the Atlanta suburb of

Stone Mountain Stone Mountain is a quartz monzonite dome Inselberg, monadnock and the site of Stone Mountain Park, east of Atlanta, Georgia. Outside the park is the city of Stone Mountain, Georgia. The park is the most visited tourist site in the state of Ge ...

. They have two daughters. He is a practicing

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

and a member of

Omega Psi Phi Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African-American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was founded on November 17, 1911 at Howard University. Omega Psi Phi is a founding member of ...

fraternity.

Education

* J.D.,

Emory University School of Law Emory University School of Law is the law school of Emory University, a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. It was founded in 1916 and was the first law school in Georgia to be granted membership in the American Association of Law ...

, 1979 *

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

, 1975

References

External links

CNN Story about the Genarlow Wilson Case
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Thurbert 1952 births African-American state legislators in Georgia (U.S. state) Baptists from North Carolina Candidates in the 2010 United States elections Emory University School of Law alumni Georgia (U.S. state) attorneys general Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers Living people Democratic Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives People from Rocky Mount, North Carolina People from Stone Mountain, Georgia 20th-century African-American politicians 20th-century members of the Georgia General Assembly 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century Georgia (U.S. state) politicians