Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) announced a special legislative session to redraw congressional maps ahead of the 2028 elections — a move that could deliver Republicans a stranglehold on the state’s congressional delegation and put a crosshairs on one of the last rural Black-majority congressional districts in the South.
The announcement comes in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling in a Louisiana case that handed Republican-controlled Southern legislatures a green light to revisit their congressional maps. GOP governors across the region have been racing to take advantage of the decision ever since.
Kemp has already shut the door on redrawing maps in time for 2026, citing the fact that candidates qualified months ago and that hundreds of thousands of Georgians have already cast early ballots ahead of next Tuesday’s primary. Legal experts have warned that attempting to alter districts this cycle would invite immediate lawsuits and potentially throw the state’s elections into chaos.
But the governor made clear that Republicans intend to reshape the political landscape before 2028 — and their most likely target is no secret.
U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, a Democrat from Albany who is serving his 17th term, represents a southwest Georgia district that is one of the few remaining rural Black-majority congressional seats in the Deep South. Republicans have long viewed his seat as a prime pickup opportunity, and the Supreme Court ruling has given them what they believe is the opening they needed to finish the job. The GOP currently holds a 9-5 edge in Georgia’s congressional delegation.
Some Republican strategists are also eyeing metro Atlanta’s district boundaries in search of yet another seat — though that gambit carries real risk. An overly aggressive redraw could dilute GOP voting strength elsewhere in the state, and a faction within the party is urging colleagues not to overreach.
The timing of the session itself reflects the political tightrope Kemp is walking. Calling lawmakers back to the Capitol before the June runoff would have yanked candidates off the campaign trail at the worst possible moment. Waiting until after means the legislature will be convening under the Gold Dome just as Atlanta braces for the World Cup and a wave of international visitors descending on the city through late June and early July.
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