ATLANTA — Republican lawmakers rejected Gov. Brian Kemp’s call to redraw Georgia’s congressional and legislative district lines on Wednesday in the wake of a controversial Supreme Court decision.
They said they need more public input, but state Democrats said the Republicans caved to public pressure.
Earlier in the day, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock was at the Capitol to join groups protesting against the redistricting efforts.
“They should be scared. The people of Georgia are struggling. They see partisan politicians trying to hold on to power,” Warnock said.
But then rumors began to swirl that Republican leadership would reject the governor’s call to redistrict.
And then, House Speaker Jon Burns and Republican Senate leadership held their own news conference and confirmed the rumors.
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“House Republicans will not be taking up Congressional or legislative redistricting maps for the 2028 election cycle during this special session,” Burns said during an afternoon news conference.
Activists who stuck around cheered the announcement.
Senate Pro Tem Larry Walker said they needed more time to get legal opinions on the ruling.
“We believe it would be wise to allow the judicial process to further develop in other states and evaluate how the courts rule on the newly adopted district maps elsewhere,” Walker said.
But Georgia Democrats insisted Republicans caved to political pressure, and fears of energizing the Democratic base right before an election.
“What they were anticipating was that they could get away with it and that the people would not get energized. The people of Georgia got energized, and we’re the first state to stop this at this particular point,” state Sen. Harold Jones, D-Augusta, said.
The governor’s office said it still believes that under the new Supreme Court ruling, Georgia’s district lines are unconstitutional, but also added that it’s up to the General Assembly to decide what they’re going to take up and to defer the issue to a later date.
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