Republican legislative leaders in Georgia announced Wednesday that they would not redraw the state’s political maps this month after Gov. Brian Kemp called them into a special session to do so — rebuffing, at least temporarily, pressure from President Donald Trump to redraw congressional districts to GOP advantage.
Kemp (R) called the June session expressly so Republicans could draw a new map intended to give them one or more additional House seats in the 2028 elections and, in the process, erase seats in majority-Black districts. Kemp had already determined that it was too late to affect this year’s House races.
But state lawmakers pulled the plug Wednesday, citing concerns about moving too quickly after the recent Supreme Court decision weakened Voting Rights Act protections for Black representation.
“Changes to our district maps have the potential to impact every voter in Georgia, and they deserve the same thoughtful, fact-driven process that has always guided the House,” House Speaker Jon Burns said, flanked by other Republican lawmakers on the steps under the state Capitol dome.
The decision marks the latest twist in the frenzied redistricting effort ahead of the midterm elections that has stirred fears of a line-drawing forever war and threatens to further divide an already polarized country.
Ten states will have new congressional districts ahead of the November elections. The action in recent weeks has been especially aggressive in the South, where the Voting Rights Act had previously restricted gerrymandering to protect the voting power of Black residents.
“House Republicans will not be taking up congressional or legislative redistricting maps for the 2028 election cycle during this special session,” Burns said Wednesday to cheers. Hundreds of protesters packed the state Capitol to oppose the redistricting push, hoisting signs proclaiming “Hands off Georgia.”
The Supreme Court decision “left no doubt that we would need to redraw new maps,” Senate President Larry Walker III (R) said at the same news conference as the crowd drowned him with boos. “The question was when,” he continued.
Walker said that it was not wise to rush the process and that, instead, Georgia lawmakers should see how legal challenges to new maps drawn in other states play out.
Democrats and voting rights advocates welcomed the announcement but urged caution.
“The state legislature made the right decision by not moving forward with mid-decade restricting. But let’s be clear: The fact they considered districting in the first place remains alarming,” said Christopher Bruce, deputy executive director of the ACLU of Georgia. “So, the underlying threat to voting rights is still a very real threat.”
The ACLU of Georgia is calling on Kemp to amend the special session proclamation and officially remove redistricting from its scope.
“Make the special session about what works best for Georgians and take redistricting out of consideration all together,” Bruce said.
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