For the first time in decades, Black Georgia voters won’t be able to rely on Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act to protect them from redistricting efforts to dilute their political power.
On June 17, Republicans could start redrawing voting maps at a special session called by Gov. Brian Kemp.
In April, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 6-3 to strike down a new majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana. The majority decision in Louisiana v Callais found that the district’s boundaries relied too much on race.
This effectively put every majority-Black district in the Republican-controlled state at risk of being carved up. Within days, legislatures across the South began redrawing their maps, now unconstrained by the obligation to ensure Black voters were given adequate representation.
“We already know Black electives are being targeted. Point blank,” state Sen. Nikki Merritt, chair of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus, told reporters at a press conference last month.
The federal Congressional Black Caucus has estimated its ranks will be reduced by as much as one-third as a result of Republican redistricting. In Georgia, the push has Democratic state lawmakers worried about the future of Black representation in the General Assembly. Moreover, racial and partisan gerrymandering have become an increasingly prevalent concern statewide.
“The goal is to send a very clear message to the Georgia legislature that we will fight back against this and all efforts to take us back to the Jim Crow era,” a representative of Black Voters Matter told Capital B Atlanta.
Freedom Summer organizers said they plan to attend the June 17 special session, adding to the momentum of the previously organized “All Roads Lead to the South” National Day of Action on May 16, where more than 600 faith leaders marched across the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, and 5,600 people rallied in the heart of Montgomery. There were over 50 solidarity events taking place worldwide.
This wouldn’t be the first time that Georgia’s Republican-majority legislature targeted Black voting districts. Just three years ago, a federal judge ruled that Georgia’s political maps drawn in 2021 were illegal under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
In response to the federal ruling, Kemp called a special session in 2023, and state lawmakers had to redraw the political maps. The judge called for Georgia to add five majority-Black state House districts, two majority-Black state Senate districts, and a majority-Black U.S. congressional district in metro Atlanta.
Read more to learn what’s at stake in the upcoming special session.
When: The special session begins at 2 p.m on June 17, the day after runoffs for the May primary election.
Where: Georgia State Capitol, 206 Washington St. SW, Atlanta.
Who: The House and Senate committees on reapportionment and redistricting will lead the discussion and creation of the new political maps. Both committees are chaired by Republicans; state Rep. Rob Leverett in the House and state Sen. Mike Hodges in the Senate.
The final maps will have to pass both chambers of the GOP-controlled state legislature before they can go to the governor’s desk for his signature.
Which Black districts are most vulnerable?
Republican lawmakers have not released a draft of which boundaries will change, but based on previous redistricting plans, Capital B Atlanta has identified two congressional, six state Senate and five state House districts that may be targeted.
Federal
U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop is the most senior member of Georgia’s congressional delegation. The 2023 redistricting took his district from 51% Black to 49% Black. In 2024, however, he was able to retain his seat by receiving 56% of the vote.
Represented counties: Represented counties: Crawford, Decatur, Dooly, Early, Grady, Macon, Mitchell, Peach, Randolph, Sumter, Talbot, Taylor, Terrell, and Thomas, and portions of Baker, Bibb, Chattahoochee, Clay, Dougherty, Houston, Lee, Marion, Boykin, Muscogee, Quitman, Schely, Seminole, Stewart, and Webster
U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath is no stranger to Georgia’s Republican lawmakers using redistricting to push her out of Congress. She first represented the 6th District from 2019 to 2023. When the map was redrawn to make her district swing Republican, McBath moved and was elected to represent the 7th District. After the federal courts ordered Georgia to redraw its maps, McBath moved back to the 6th District and was reelected in 2024 with 74% of the vote.
Represented counties: portions of Cobb, Douglas, Fayette, and Fulton.
State
These Black Democratic state legislators represent areas of metro Atlanta or Macon-Bibb that were impacted by the 2023 ruling that forced lawmakers to redraw the maps.
Senate
10th District, state Sen. Emanuel Jones
17th District, state Sen. Gail Davenport
28th District, state Sen. Donzella James
34th District, state Sen. Kenya Wicks
35th District, vacated by state Sen. Jason Esteves in October
43rd District, state Sen. Tonya Anderson
House
64th District, state Rep. Sylvia Wayfer Baker
74th District, state Rep. Robert Flournoy
115th District state Rep. Regina Lewis-Ward
116th District, state Rep. El-Mahdi Holly
149th District, state Rep. Floyd Griffin
Staff writers Chauncey Alcorn and Naji Rutherford contributed to this report.
