Suspended civil rights attorney and former judge Carlos Moore is running to serve Georgia’s 13th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, he announced on Friday, less than a year after the Mississippi Supreme Court permanently banned him from serving on the bench.

“Our country is at a crossroads. We need leaders who understand the stakes and how to defend our democracy and Constitution from Trump and his MAGA allies,” the candidate said in a Friday afternoon text message to potential supporters.

Moore is running as a Democrat against incumbent Democratic U.S. House Rep. David Scott, who has served Georgia’s 13th Congressional district since 2003. Eight other Georgia Democrats are running against the 80-year-old incumbent. In an announcement video, Moore takes a swipe at Scott, saying he wants to be “a leader who actually shows up.”

A man in a suit and gold tie speaks to a reporter inside a capitol building
Democratic U.S. Rep. David Scott speaks to reporters, March 4, 2024, at the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta, after qualifying to run for reelection to Congress in suburban Atlanta’s 13th Congressional District. Scott beat six Democratic primary opponents in Georgia’s elections on Tuesday, May 21, as he seeks a 12th congressional term. AP Photo/Jeff Amy, File

The Mississippi Bar Complaint Tribunal suspended Moore from practicing law in Mississippi for one year on Dec. 31, 2024, in response to allegations that he improperly handled a wrongful death settlement in 2022. The 2022 complaint alleged that he deposited $300,000 from the settlement into his law firm’s client trust account instead of the victim’s estate, Action News 5 reported.

A few weeks later, the Mississippi Supreme Court banned Moore from serving as a judge over remarks he had made on social media condemning the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse on charges over the deadly shootings at a 2021 Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Before the court made its decision, though, Moore resigned from his positions as a municipal judge in Grenada and Clarksdale, saying he had gotten married and joined a law firm in Atlanta, Georgia.

When the Mississippi Free Press asked Moore about his ban and suspension, he said he was not perfect, pointing to President Donald Trump’s 34 felony convictions.

“At this pivotal moment in history, the people are not looking for perfection, but they are looking for a battle-tested and trained fighter. The current occupant of the White House has 34 felony convictions. I have zero. I am more than qualified to become the next congressman from Georgia’s 13th Congressional District and I’m happy to be in the race to give the people more of what they want and deserve,” he said in a Friday statement to the Mississippi Free Press. 

The majority opinion of the Court said that Moore must be permanently barred from performing judicial duties in Mississippi because he violated a previous memorandum of understanding with the Commission on Judicial Performance that precluded him from making certain comments on social media—especially when using his official judicial social media accounts.

“He has failed to ‘act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary,’” the court’s majority opinion said. “Judge Moore has admitted his actions but continues to argue that he has done no wrong. A great likelihood exists that Judge Moore would continue to repeat his actions. … Accordingly, a harsh sanction is warranted.”

A bearded man in a white and blue checkered shirt standing outside
Carlos Moore has represented high-profile clients in Mississippi for decades. Photo courtesy Carlos Moore for Congress

Moore served as the National Bar Association president from 2021 to 2022. He has represented clients in a number of high-profile cases in recent years, including Aderrien Murry, an 11-year-old boy who was shot by a police officer in Indianola, Mississippi; Sherita Harris, who alleged that a police officer shot her in the head in Jackson; Shanterra Jackson, who accused a Sardis, Mississippi, police officer of sexually assaulting her; D’Monterrio Gibson, a Black FedEx driver who accused two white men of chasing and shooting at him while he was making deliveries; and a 10-year-old boy who was arrested for urinating in public in Senatobia, Mississippi.

“As the son of a 19-year-old poor single mother in Mississippi, statistically, I was more likely to end up in jail than in college. But against all odds, I not only became the first in my family to attend college, I went on to become a Civil Rights attorney and eventually a judge,” Moore said in his campaign announcement on Friday.

His announcement did not mention his suspended law license or his lifetime ban from serving as a judge.

You can see Moore’s campaign announcement below:

State Reporter Heather Harrison has won more than a dozen awards for her multi-media journalism work. At Mississippi State University, she studied public relations and broadcast journalism, earning her Communication degree in 2023. For three years, Heather worked at The Reflector student newspaper: first as a staff reporter, then as the news editor and finally, as the editor-in-chief. This is where her passion for politics and government reporting began.
Heather started working at the Mississippi Free Press three days after graduation in 2023. She also worked part time for Starkville Daily News after college covering the Board of Aldermen meetings.
In her free time, Heather likes to sit on the porch, read books and listen to Taylor Swift. A native of Hazlehurst, she now lives in Brandon with her wife and their Boston Terrier, Finley, and calico cat, Ravioli.