ATLANTA — It’s a move that could weaken the voting power of Black voters and strengthen Republicans’ hold on the General Assembly.
Gov. Brian Kemp wants to redraw congressional and legislative districts after this week’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The governor could very easily call a special session to redraw those district lines now that lawmakers don’t have to factor in race.
It’s too late to use new lines for this year’s elections, but Kemp wants them in place by 2028.
The Supreme Court’s decision hollows out a key provision in the Voting Rights Act, which protected the voting power of minorities.
In a statement from Kemp on Friday, he said the decision “restores fairness to our redistricting process and allows states to pass electoral maps that reflect the will of the voters, not the will of federal judges.”
Kemp said it’s too late to redraw lines for the 2026 elections, but he said, “It’s clear that the decision requires Georgia to adopt new electoral maps before the 2028 election cycle.”
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That move could gut longtime Democratic Rep. Sanford Bishop’s 2nd District and turn it Republican.
“We don’t know what can happen when the General Assembly, in its wisdom, decides to move, but we have to deal with whatever the results of that are,” Bishop told Channel 2’s Richard Elliot.
Even as mourners gathered at the State Capitol to remember late Democratic Rep. David Scott, some were thinking his 13th District could be carved up to create more Republican seats.
Democrat Jasmine Clark is running for Scott’s seat and thinks any redistricting should wait for the next census.
“We are actually closer to the next census and redistricting than we are from the last one. And so, there’s no reason for us to jump the gun and do this any earlier when it was already scheduled to be done in 2030 and 2031,” Clark said.
But Republican Rep. Austin Scott, long a close friend of David Ccott, said he trusts the governor to do the right thing when it comes to redistricting.
“I’ll leave that to the governor. That’s his responsibility, not mine. Brian Kemp has been a wonderful governor for the state of Georgia,” Scott said.
So, when could this happen? Kemp could call a special session to redraw those lines.
He may call one soon to fix an unrelated voting issue in Georgia. He could do it then or call a separate special session just for redistricting.
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