Georgia Republican lawmakers are abandoning redistricting plans, citing ongoing court cases

Georgia Republicans abruptly changed course on redistricting on Wednesday, backing down on their plans to redraw the boundaries between Congress and state districts ahead of the 2028 elections less than an hour before lawmakers bowed out of the special session.

At a joint news conference Wednesday, House Speaker Jon Burns, a Republican from Newington, and Senate President Pro Tem Larry Walker III, a Republican from Perry, told a raucous crowd that they plan to focus on securing property tax relief and ratifying last month’s gas tax suspension, not on changing borders. Lawmakers must also address the July 1 deadline QR codes to be removed from Georgia ballots.

“As we gather today, Georgia House Republicans are focused on Georgia’s future and the issues that truly matter to our neighbors across the state, not partisan gains,” Burns said.

Both lawmakers added that they are waiting for developments in ongoing court cases.

“We believe it would be prudent to allow the litigation process to continue to develop in other states and evaluate how courts rule on newly adopted district maps in other states,” Walker said. “With this guidance, we have confidence that Georgia’s new districts will ultimately withstand legal scrutiny.”

Legal dispute over current political maps of Georgia is still in progress. A federal judge ordered lawmakers to draw novel maps in 2023 to create an additional majority-Black congressional district in western metro Atlanta and seven additional majority-Black legislative districts.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who added redistricting to the agenda when he called the special session, said he believed a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that weakened a key provision of the Voting Rights Act made Georgia’s current maps unconstitutional. But Kemp, who is term-limited and who is in his final year in office, acknowledged he does not have the authority to force lawmakers to draw novel maps.

“I don’t think there is any reason to delay the repartition process, especially since the Legislature has already convened,” Kemp said in a statement. “However, legislative districts are the responsibility of the General Assembly and may, at its discretion, defer this matter to a later date.”

Earlier this year, Kemp broke with many other Republican-led Southern states by declaring this state wouldn’t strive redistricting before the 2026 general election. States like Alabama and Tennessee have this willing to break up black-majority districts since the Supreme Court ruling. In neighboring South Carolina, lawmakers considered redistricting, but he finally chose don’t strive for it.

Some Republicans, including Sen. Greg Dolezal of Cumming, who is the GOP candidate for lieutenant governor, expressed disapproval of legislative leaders’ decision to halt the redistricting process.

“I’ve always been of the opinion that we should do it as soon as possible,” Dolezal said. “So, if the legal mechanisms put us in a position where we couldn’t do it, I understand that. But in my opinion, it’s as fast as possible.”

Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones, an Augusta Democrat, argued that widespread opposition from Georgia residents ultimately led Republican lawmakers to abandon redistricting plans.

“Make no mistake, it was the citizens of Georgia who put pressure on the General Assembly and let them know they did not appreciate the attempt to steal this election,” Jones said.

“Throughout this process, people have really been galvanized and galvanized into action, so those who actually wanted to limit the voting power of African Americans saw that and today decided that it was not in their best interest to take any further action.”

State Rep. Jasmine Clark, a Democrat from Lilburn and the Democratic candidate for the 13th Congressional District, echoed Jones’ sentiments. The district, which includes Rockdale County and parts of Clayton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Henry and Newton counties, is majority-black and was among those where supporters feared they could be targeted by Republicans during the redistricting process.

“This was a huge victory for the people who organized and protested the maps because they knew what was at stake,” Clark said in a statement. “This fight is not over, but I am glad that the people of Georgia’s 13th Congressional District will continue to have the right to elect their representatives.”

While Democrats celebrated the move, they also urged Georgians to remain vigilant against future border change efforts. Former Democratic state Sen. Jason Esteves said unforeseen events could still happen and that Georgians need to keep showing up at the Capitol to “make sure lawmakers see that we hold them accountable.”

Rep. Michelle Au, a Democrat from Johns Creek, urged voters to show up for the redistricting conference town hall Thursday despite news warning that GOP leaders may return after the November election for another special session on redistricting.

“Don’t get comfortable,” she said he said.

Activists put pressure on legislators

Before Georgia Republicans publicly backed away from their redistricting plans, demonstrators filled the Capitol to express opposition to the plan to redraw district lines. About 200 people took part in a Wednesday morning march through downtown Atlanta, with protesters calling on lawmakers to preserve the voting power of Black voters rather than limit it.

At a pre-march meeting at Big Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Atlanta, voting rights advocates and religious leaders hailed the redistricting push as a revival of decades-long efforts to suppress black voting power in the South.

“These maneuvers to make it more difficult for ordinary people to participate in the democratic process are not original, they are not innovative and they are not creative,” said Michael L. Mitchell, who is bishop of the 6th District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. “They are tired rehashes of an outdated and desperate playbook written in the 1950s and 1960s.”

The timing of the event may also have favored voting rights activists: Atlanta did hosting eight FIFA World Cup matches in June and July, allowing protesters to attract international attention.

During the event, activists urged attendees to stay engaged and support turn out as many voters as possible in the midterms.

“Democracy was never supposed to be something that happened to us,” said Jackie Killings, president of the League of Women Voters of Georgia. “Democracy is what we do. It works on ordinary people, like each of you here today, who decide that we will not sit down, we will not be silent, and we will not wait to be seen and we will not wait to be heard.”

A holiday headache for legislators

Lawmakers are gathering for a special session ahead of the weekend when Black Georgians will observe Juneteenth, a federal holiday commemorating the emancipation of the last enslaved Black Americans.

Even though Republicans chose not to be in session on Friday, the official June 16 holiday, Democratic state Rep. David Wilkerson of Powder Springs noted that many people in Cobb County celebrate June 11 on Saturday.

Republicans scheduled session days only through Monday, although lawmakers could meet later. That prompted Democratic state Rep. Doreen Carter to press House Majority Leader Chuck Efstration on “the importance of not coming on Tuesday versus coming on Saturday.”

“It is extremely disrespectful to the Black community and Father’s Day weekend that you all have us here,” Carter said.

Efstration said it was “very difficult to strike a balance” where lawmakers had to take into account prior commitments such as funerals and vacations, holidays and “the desire of many members to try to get the work done as quickly as possible.”

Georgia Recorder intern Ellie Fivas contributed to this report.