After the Supreme Court ruled in Louisiana v. Callais that a gerrymandered majority-black congressional district was unconstitutional, some red states have rushed to redraw their districts to undo racially based gerrymandering. These efforts are undoing some of the deck-stacking that gives Democrats seats in states that should have more GOP representation.
Now the mid-decade redistricting debate is spreading into yet another state. Gov. Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) announced on Wednesday that he is calling a special session of the Georgia General Assembly after the primary runoffs. The legislature will convene on June 17 to redraw the Peach State’s maps for the 2028 election cycle.
Greg Bluestein reports at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
The move, announced Wednesday, thrusts Kemp and his Republican allies back into the center of two of the most combustible debates in Georgia politics a day after the June 16 primary runoffs cement nominees for every statewide office.
The first is a looming crisis over Georgia’s voting system. The second is a redistricting fight over congressional and legislative boundaries for the 2028 elections.
The voting system controversy is something that the state Senate left on the table after Sine Die. The General Assembly passed a law in 2024 banning the use of QR codes on ballots after July 1, 2026. The House passed a bill that addressed the issue by punting to 2028 on outlawing the current system and procuring a new one, but the Senate didn’t touch it. With that, the current system would be illegal for November’s election, so the General Assembly needs to get on the ball — and fast.
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The governor declined to change the congressional maps for this year’s races since the 2026 races are underway — the primaries are this coming Tuesday. However, he and other Republican lawmakers want to get new districts underway for 2028 while a Republican governor can sign them into law.
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Georgia currently has nine Republican districts and five Democratic districts, and I’ve long said that our districts are about as fair as they can be. (This includes District 13, which is vacant after the death of incumbent Democrat David Scott a couple of weeks ago.) But District 2, which 17-term incumbent Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.) represents, leans barely Democratic. That’s the district that the General Assembly can most likely and fairly redraw to increase the state’s congressional delegation to 10 Republicans.
Bluestein reports:
Republicans have long viewed Bishop’s district as one of their best pickup opportunities outside metro Atlanta and see the Supreme Court ruling as a chance to strengthen the GOP’s current 9-5 edge in Georgia’s congressional delegation.
But Republicans could also target metro Atlanta’s boundaries in search of another seat. That would carry risks. An aggressive redraw could dilute GOP voting power elsewhere, and some party leaders are urging caution rather than overreach.
“We’re going to have to redraw the maps. It’s not a matter of if, but when,” Kemp told Bluestein. “And right after the runoff is a good time to do that. Plus, we’ve got to deal with the elections issue.”
This move comes right after Kemp signed a controversial bill into law that requires most local elections to be nonpartisan in five metro Atlanta counties. The intention of the law is to give Republicans (especially black Republicans) a fairer shake in Democrat-dominated counties, but of course, Dems are pitching fits over it.
Neighbor states Florida and Tennessee have passed new maps with heavier GOP representation this year, and Alabama is trying to get its legislature-approved 2023 map, which a court struck down, enacted. Gov. Henry McMaster (R-S.C.) hasn’t indicated yet whether he will call a special session to look at the Palmetto State’s maps, while North Carolina passed new maps last year.
Of course, Democrats are threatening to fight any new maps tooth and nail. And Kemp knows it.
“That doesn’t surprise me they’d say that, but they haven’t seen the maps yet, so they might want to wait and see what the Legislature does,” he said.
Democrats are already warming up the lawsuits and press releases, which is usually a pretty good sign that Republicans are over the target. But Kemp’s answer is the right one: wait for the maps. Georgia doesn’t need a reckless redraw, and Republicans shouldn’t get greedy just because the opportunity is there.
The General Assembly has a chance to fix the ballot-system problem and draw maps that better reflect Georgia’s voters. That’s not something Republicans should apologize for — it’s something they should get right.
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