The
new map devised by the Republican-controlled state legislature
also would dismantle a multi-racial district currently held by
Democratic U.S. Representative Lucy McBath, a Black woman,
potentially running afoul of the judge's order.
In his Oct. 26 opinion, U.S. District Judge Steve Jones said
that Georgia could not remedy the problem "by eliminating
minority opportunity districts elsewhere."
Legislators have been meeting this week in a special session
convened by Republican Governor Brian Kemp to respond to the
judge's decision, which called for lawmakers to issue new U.S.
House, state House and state Senate maps delineating district
boundaries by Dec. 8 that comply with the federal Voting Rights
Act, which prohibits racial discrimination in voting. The state
has separately appealed the ruling.
The new map would likely allow Republicans to maintain their
current 9-5 advantage among the state's 14 U.S. House districts.
If, however, the court does not approve the new plan, a
court-drawn map with a new Black-majority district could flip
one seat to Democrats.
The case is among several across the United States that could
help determine which party takes control of the House in next
year's congressional elections. Democrats need to gain only five
seats nationally to wrest back the House majority they lost in
2022.
The population in Georgia's 7th congressional district in the
Atlanta suburbs, represented by McBath, is currently less than
30% white. Under the new plan, the district would become
two-thirds white, while the neighboring 6th district would go
from majority white to approximately half Black.
In a statement, the Republican speaker of the state House, Jon
Burns, said the new map "fully complies with the judge's order."
McBath's campaign manager, Jake Orvis, said in a statement,
"Georgia Republicans have yet again attempted to subvert voters
by changing the rules."
(Reporting by Joseph Ax in New York; Editing by Will Dunham)
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