Georgia Republicans declined to redraw the state’s congressional map during a special session, defying calls from Donald Trump for widespread redistricting in the wake of a recent US supreme court decision that effectively gutted a major section of the Voting Rights Act.
“We believe that it’s important to do things the Georgia way, responsibly, transparently, and with ample opportunity for public input,” said Jon Burns, the Georgia house speaker.
Burns cited a rushed timeline and incomplete understanding of the ramifications of a supreme court ruling in April that weakened protections for minority voters under the Voting Rights Act, which prompted a Republican scramble to redraw voting districts to the party’s advantage in an effort to preserve its slim majority in the US House of Representatives.
Some states, urged by Donald Trump, did so rapidly. Others have been more hesitant.
Addressing reporters on Wednesday, Burns emphasized the need to address other matters, including the reimposition of a moratorium on gasoline taxes, a way to reduce property taxes and a vital legislative change to a 2024 law that threatens to cast the legality of vote-counting machines in doubt ahead of the November election.
“Changes to our district maps have the potential to impact every voter in Georgia, and they deserve the same quality accurate process that has always guided the house … with every citizen of our state has an opportunity to make their voices heard,” Burns said.
A potential congressional redistricting effort brought Raphael Warnock, a US senator for Georgia and a prominent Democrat, back to the state to protest against it. Justin Jones, a Nashville state representative who led legislative resistance to redistricting in Tennessee, which passed new maps in May, stalked the halls of the Georgia capitol in Atlanta to raise awareness.
But legislative redistricting for Georgia’s state house and state senate districts had also been on the table, and the prospect of that backfiring may have influenced Republican lawmakers.
“You can’t bleed a turnip,” said Teri Anulewicz, a former state representative. “They did everything they were going to do in 2023,” she said, referring to redistricting that shored up some Republican legislators’ electoral chances in metro Atlanta, even as the region slipped away from the GOP.
Georgia is a swing state in a year that favors Democratic gains, she said. “The house is very much on the bubble in terms of keeping their majority. It was not surprising today.”
Burns’s commentary reflects the views of the Republican caucus, said Mark Newton, a Republican state representative from the suburban Augusta area. “He likes to do things with deliberation, not to be rushed,” said Newton. “It’s one of the reasons we have so many study committees that meet for the nine months that we’re not in session … When we’ve redistricted in the past, we’ve had meetings. We’ve gotten feedback from all groups.”
