 Weltner tried to regain his seat in 1968 on the Humphrey-Muskie ticket but lost to his Republican successor, Fletcher Thompson.In 1973, Weltner ran for mayor of Atlanta but finished third behind Jewish incumbent Sam Massell and the eventual winner, Vice Mayor Maynard Jackson, an African American.After leaving politics, Weltner continued his legal career, first as a judge in the Fulton County Superior Court from 1976 to 1981 and then serving as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia from 1981 to 1992.