Rep. Lucy McBath Pushed Out Of District After Judge Upholds New Georgia Congressional Map

Democrats argued the redistricting violated the Voting Rights Act, but the judge wasn't buying it.

The new approved congressional map for Georgia is a win for the GOP but a loss for Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA).

Approved by District Judge Steve C. Jones on Dec. 28, the new map sustains the political split of Georgia’s delegation but pushes McBath out of her congressional district, Politico reported. Jones stated the original map violated the Voting Rights Act by removing the power of Black voters in the state and ordered GOP leaders to go back to the drawing board to include more districts so Black voters can elect the candidates of their choosing.

Up from the four districts on the previous map, the new map presents five congressional districts where Black voters are a majority or close to, creating a new Black majority district to the west of Atlanta. However, this eliminates McBath’s district, which was close to the city’s northeast, as a non-majority Black district. Georgia Republicans took over what they described as McBath’s “coalition district” – a Black, Latino, and Asian voter combined majority-minority district – to create the new majority Black district.

Democrats argued that the change also violated the Voting Rights Act, but Jones wasn’t buying it, ruling that the GOP did what was required of the court. “The Court finds that the General Assembly fully complied with this Court’s order requiring the creation of a majority-Black congressional district,” Jones wrote. However, the judge said if Democrats wanted to present the issue, it would need to be a separate claim.

According to Atlanta News First, plaintiffs in the case, including Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and American Civil Liberties Union, argued creating more majority Black districts made them weaker since Black voters had to be moved around to do so.

Redistricting moves have been a prominent political issue in 2023. As politicians have kept a close eye on the Peachtree State, Alabama also made the news in early parts of the year. Federal judges rejected the state’s congressional maps twice for failing to create a second district. Lawmakers weren’t able to even come close to comprising a majority. A three-judge panel wrote how “deeply troubled” they were after Alabama lawmakers went against their instructions to create another majority-Black district or something close to it.