In a stunning reversal on Wednesday, Republican legislators announced they would not redraw Georgia’s electoral maps during this week’s special session.
The Capitol filled with cheers and chants of “Black voters matter!” as lawmakers made the announcement. The moment capped weeks of organizing by civil rights leaders, faith groups, and a coalition of advocacy organizations, who mobilized Georgians to flood the state legislature and urge Republican lawmakers to abandon the redistricting push.
Gov. Brian Kemp had called the special session expressly for that purpose, hoping Georgia would follow other Southern states’ lead after the US Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, which gutted a key Voting Rights Act protection against racial gerrymandering. Georgia would have been the first state to apply that ruling to its state legislative maps, not just its congressional ones.
“I do not believe there is reason to delay the apportionment process, especially with the Legislature already convening,” Kemp said. “Legislative districting, however, is the responsibility of the General Assembly, and it is within their discretion to defer the issue until a later date.”
House Speaker Jon Burns and the rest of the House Republican leadership sent a letter to Gov. Kemp saying that Georgia’s current maps are still pending litigation from 2021, and therefore it was important to pause.
“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. For this reason, we will not be taking up congressional or legislative redistricting for the 2028 election cycle during this special session,” they wrote.
Additionally, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, the President of the Senate, was a driving force behind the push to redraw maps. He lost his primary race to become governor last night, which may have weakened the appetite of his Republican colleagues to push through racially discriminatory maps.
But the primary loss and pending litigation likely weren’t the only things on House Republican leaders’ minds.
The redistricting push had become a galvanizing force for Democrats, who repeatedly said that Republicans were re-drawing the maps to try and keep their power because they couldn’t stand behind rising prices, President Donald Trump’s war in Iran, and an escalating healthcare crisis in the state.
According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, several GOP lawmakers “worried the fight would hand their rivals a potent mobilizing issue” ahead of the November elections.
However, that doesn’t mean the issue is settled. Republicans could still push for another special session to redraw the maps later this year, after the November elections. That pressure would be especially acute if Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms wins the race for governor.
Republicans would have a narrow window to push through new maps while Kemp is still in office and able to sign them into law, before a Bottoms administration could veto anything they passed.
For now, Democrats see it as a win.
“Georgia Republicans thought they could get away with exploiting the gutting of the Voting Rights Act to dilute Black voters’ power and avoid accountability to the people. But the people of Georgia stood up and said: not so damn fast,” wrote Charlie Bailey, chair of the Georgia Democratic Party, in a statement.
“The massive wave that brought this victory is just a preview of what is to come in November.”
