Republicans face obstacles to continued dominance as population becomes concentrated in metropolitan areas
By Jeff Amy
Associated Press
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia lawmakers returned to the capitol Wednesday with maps on their mind.
They began a special session called by Gov. Brian Kemp to redistrict Georgia’s congressional delegation, state Senate and state House.
The General Assembly must redraw electoral districts at least once every decade to equalize populations following the U.S. Census. Georgia added more than a million people from 2010 to 2020, swelling some districts and draining others.
Republicans face obstacles to continued dominance as more of the state’s population becomes concentrated in metro Atlanta and around Savannah. GOP-dominated rural areas, especially in southern parts of the state, will see decreased representation.
“I think it’s no secret that Republicans are stronger in rural Georgia than they are in metro areas,” House Speaker David Ralston, a Blue Ridge Republican, told reporters. “Some of our Republican colleagues may end up being left behind, and that’s a tough part of this.”
This will be the first time in decades that Georgia lawmakers won’t be required to get federal approval of their maps after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a portion of the Voting Rights Act.
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CONGRESS
The headline-grabbing issue for lawmakers will be whether Republicans target suburban Democrats Lucy McBath and Carolyn Bourdeaux, whose congressional victories reduced the delegation’s partisan balance to 8-6 Republican from the 10-4 advantage Republicans had when they drew the current map.
Although there was some talk that Republicans might try to target both McBath and Bourdeaux, early maps have suggested that the GOP will only go after one or the other in an attempt not to overreach. A Senate Republican map aimed to recapture McBath’s seat by adding Republican Forsyth County to the 6th District while removing more Democratic areas. The flip side of that plan would create a safe Democratic seat in southern Gwinnett County that Bourdeaux could hold.
With U.S. Rep Jody Hice running for Secretary of State, there’s no incumbent to protect in his seat, so his Republican colleagues could sharply shift his middle Georgia district southward, picking up more territory to make up for rural population losses.
While the House and Senate traditionally defer to each other on drawing their chambers in the General Assembly, both chambers take an active interest in the congressional map. The state House has yet to release a congressional proposal, so it’s not clear how far apart they are.
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STATE SENATE
Senate Republicans hold a 34-22 edge, and the map they released Tuesday seeks to protect all their incumbents except two who are seeking statewide office in 2022.
To deal with population losses in south Georgia, the proposal removes Sen. Tyler Harper’s district and relocates it to Gwinnett County. Harper, of Ocilla, is running for agriculture commissioner. The plan also dismantles Sen. Bruce Thompson’s district and relocates it from Cherokee and Bartow counties to Roswell and Sandy Springs in north Fulton County. Thompson, from White, is running labor commissioner.
Both those new districts might be won by Democrats, but Republicans shifted a district held by Democrat Michelle Au of Johns Creek to take in more Republican territory, possibly imperiling her. The GOP would use what’s left of Thompson’s district to aid suburban GOP incumbents whose districts have been getting more Democratic.
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STATE HOUSE
The plan House Republicans proposed Tuesday could sacrifice as many as five or six Republican-held seats in an attempt to help their remaining incumbents. The GOP now has a 103-77 margin in the House. The map draws a number of Republicans and Democrats into shared districts, which guarantees one won’t win reelection. And because Georgia state lawmakers must live in their districts for at least a year before they’re elected, incumbents drawn into unfavorable districts won’t have the option of moving before the vote on Nov. 8, 2022.
The plan also pairs some incumbents in suburban Atlanta areas, creating a number of new Democratic-leaning districts that don’t have any incumbents. Only one new district that is clearly Republican would be created, in fast-growing Forsyth County.
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Lawmakers must at some point redraw the state’s five Public Service Commission districts. Those utility regulators run statewide, but must live in a particular district. It’s unclear if that will happen in the special session or later.
Senators have said they will hold hearings on whether Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood should be allowed to secede from the city, but no final vote on the issue is expected before the 2022 regular session. Hearings are also likely on a variety of other subjects to be decided next year.
Some conservative activists have been pushing Kemp to let lawmakers decide on a further review of Donald Trump’s 2020 loss in Georgia to President Joe Biden. Kemp has shown little inclination to allow such a review thus far.
