New Black majority congressional district drawn by Georgia lawmakers
Reapportionment impacting thousands of metro Atlanta, Georgia voters
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - State lawmakers have released a map of proposed new congressional maps after a federal court judge ruled the current one unconstitutional last month.
The newly created map creates a new Black majority 6th congressional district in west Atlanta. The proposed district heavily impacts Democrat Lucy McBath, who represents the 7th congressional district.
“Georgia Republicans have yet again attempted to subvert voters by changing the rules,” McBath campaign manager Jake Orvis said. “Congresswoman McBath refuses to let an extremist few in the state legislature determine when her time serving Georgians in Congress is done.”
On Friday, state lawmakers in the House and Senate voted to approve the new maps. Now the maps will go before another vote in the opposite chamber.
Congress 2023 Packet by Lindsey Basye on Scribd
“This map meets the promise we made when this process began,” said Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns. “It fully complies with the judge’s order, while also following Georgia’s traditional redistricting principles. We look forward to passing this fair redistricting plan.”
A Gov. Brian Kemp-ordered special legislative session is underway in Atlanta, as lawmakers have until Dec. 6 to redraw the state’s congressional and legislative maps.
On Monday and Tuesday, state Senate and House leaders released maps showing their chambers’ respective new legislative districts. Democrats have criticized both the House and Senate maps as unfair and remaining discriminatory.
SEE: PROPOSED NEW HOUSE AND SENATE MAPS
As a result of U.S. District Court Judge Steven Jones ruling, thousands of metro Atlanta and Georgia voters will find themselves in new districts ahead of next year’s hugely important 2024 elections.
Jones ruled the maps, adopted in late 2021 by Georgia’s GOP-led General Assembly, violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The maps were drawn two years ago as the result of the 2020 U.S. Census; lawmakers are required by law to adopt new maps to reflect new population data. State lawmakers spent several harried weeks at the state capitol drawing the new maps, which were adopted along straight party lines.
Jones ordered lawmakers to draw two new Black-majority districts in the state Senate and five new Black-majority districts in the state House.
FULL GEORGIA REAPPORTIONMENT COVERAGE
Much of the controversy over the 2021-drawn maps centered around metro Atlanta’s 6th congressional district, which was then held by McBath.
The 6th district, which has existed since 1845, has historically included many of metro Atlanta’s northern suburbs, such as those in Forsyth, Dawson and eastern Cobb and northern Fulton counties. It’s also been a traditionally Republican stronghold, with GOP luminaries such as Newt Gingrich, Johnny Isakson and Tom Price holding the seat.
But in 2017, Price resigned to accept a position in then-President Donald Trump’s cabinet, and the resulting special election between Republican Karen Handel and Democrat Jon Ossoff became the most expensive such Congressional race in U.S. history.
One year later, however, Democrat Lucy McBath upset Handel in the general election, flipped the seat to blue.
When time came to redraw the maps two years ago, Republicans redrew McBath into the same district held by Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux in the neighboring 7th district. That forced Bourdeaux and McBath to run against each other, a race in which McBath prevailed.
As a result, the 6th district became an open seat, eventually won by McCormick. The 6th was redrawn to add more white voters by extending it north through all of Forsyth and Dawson counties and eastern Cherokee County. As a result, the 6th District’s white voting-age population increased to 66.63%.
Georgia’s U.S. House delegation currently consists of eight Republicans and six Democrats.
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