Georgia Republicans have decided to cancel a plan to redraw the state's congressional districts to create more Republican seats, dealing a blow to President Donald Trump's nationwide gerrymandering agenda.
The plan was supposed to be debated at the special session that begins today, and would only have applied to elections starting in 2028. Republicans were likely planning to delete a majority-Black district in the southwest of the state, and possibly another in Atlanta.
The move to cancel redistricting "comes after weeks of mounting pressure from Democrats, voting rights groups and even some uneasy Republicans who warned that reopening redistricting could energize Democratic voters and overshadow a pivotal stretch of the campaign season," reported Greg Bluestein for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Additionally, House Speaker Jon Burns "pointed to pending litigation over Georgia’s 2021 maps as a reason to pause" in a letter to Gov. Brian Kemp, "arguing that lawmakers should not rush into another overhaul while the courts are still weighing the boundaries already in place."
Republicans had already had misgivings about redistricting in the special session going into this week. Another factor that might have been the nail in the coffin is Lt. Gov. Burt Jones' loss in the gubernatorial Republican primary on Tuesday night; Jones, the Trump-endorsed candidate, had been one of the most vocal proponents of redistricting.
The issue likely solidifies the national congressional map for November's midterm elections, after months of back-and-forth redistricting wars in Republican- and Democratic-controlled states triggered by pressure from the president and the Supreme Court's decision to weaken the Voting Rights Act.
Many Republican states aggressively redrew their maps, like Texas, Missouri, and Tennessee, and Democrats retaliated in California and Virginia, though the latter map was blocked in state courts for procedural reasons. Utah Republicans were also forced to adopt a more balanced map after their pre-existing gerrymander was overturned under state law.
Redistricting battles are likely to resume after the midterm elections, with several Republican and Democratic states eyeing further redraws.
