Georgia Republicans Ditch Plan To Redraw State’s Legislative Maps During Special Session

The Republican-led Georgia state legislature will not move forward with a plan to redraw the state’s congressional and state legislative maps, lawmakers said Wednesday. Governor Brian Kemp had wanted the legislature to eliminate Democratic seats before he retires. Mr. Kemp called lawmakers in for a special session which began Wednesday, after saying last month that it was time to revisit the state’s congressional and state legislative maps in the wake of the Callais v. Louisiana decision. That case has opened the door for a number of southern states to begin eliminating deep-blue districts. Alabama, Louisiana, and Tennessee have already done so. The redistricting effort during the special session in Georgia would not have affected the midterm elections this year, unlike the redrawing of other southern states’ maps. Mr. Kemp wanted to ensure new maps were drawn well in advance for the 2028 elections in his state. On Wednesday, however, leaders in the state capital told the governor that they would not honor his request. “(T)he House has always conducted redistricting with considerable time for public input and with careful attention to constitutional requirements and the interests of every Georgia community,” reads a letter to Mr. Kemp from GOP leaders in the state House of Representatives. “Changes to Georgia’s maps should take place only when members of the General Assembly and citizens have been given ample opportunity to gather the facts, provide input, and engage in meaningful discussion,” they wrote. “For this reason, we will not be taking up congressional or legislative redistricting for the 2028 election cycle during this special session.” The president pro tempore of the state Senate, Larry Walker, later said at a press conference that he agreed with his House colleagues. In a statement to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Mr. Kemp said he did not believe there is any reason to “delay the apportionment process.” Thanks to the Callais decision and the support of countless ardently pro-Trump state legislators across the country, Republicans are poised to pick up around a dozen seats in the U.S. House this fall, depending on Democratic turnout and the size of the widely anticipated generic ballot win for the opposition party. Georgia Republicans’ fight to redraw congressional maps — potentially eliminating as many as two or three Democratic seats — is not over, however. State lawmakers will have the opportunity to redraw the maps next year during their regular session, though that depends on the outcome of this fall’s elections. Democrats don’t have much of a path to take back either the state House or Senate, though the gubernatorial race appears to be a real tossup. On Tuesday, Republicans nominated billionaire Rick Jackson to be their candidate for governor. Mr. Jackson has never before held elected office and did not receive the endorsement of either President Trump or Mr. Kemp. He spent more than $100 million over the course of only four months to catapult himself to the nomination. Mr. Jackson will face off against a former mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms, who, for now, holds a lead in the polls. There has been little public polling between Mr. Jackson and Ms. Bottoms, though the most recent pre-runoff survey from Concord Public Opinion Partners — a Democratic firm — has her leading by 15 points. Another poll from Echelon Insights — a Republican outfit — conducted earlier this year has Ms. Bottoms at a narrower, six-point lead.

Georgia Republicans Ditch Plan To Redraw State’s Legislative Maps During Special Session

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