Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and state Senate Reapportionment Committee Chairman John Kennedy on Monday released a draft map of proposed Congressional districts based on 2020 Census figures.
As anticipated, the lines for the 6th Congressional District—a swing seat held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath—would be moved substantially.
The proposed new lines for the 6th still include most of East Cobb, which has remained a relative Republican stronghold, as well as North Fulton and Sandy Springs.
But the GOP leaders have created a new map taking away more Democratic terrain of north and central DeKalb and would include all of Forsyth County, a strong GOP area with a growing population.
Based on the proposed map, it’s hard to tell how much of East Cobb has been removed from the 6th District and placed in the adjoining 11th because it doesn’t get down to census tract details.
An independent site, called Dave’s Redistricting App, has a zoom feature better showing the proposed lines that would take out some East Cobb precincts closer to the city of Marietta that have been trending Democratic in recent elections.
We’ve included a screen shot at the bottom of this post to show that in more detail; essentially the line runs below the Ashebrooke and above the Crossgate subdivision and bisects Indian Hills.
The area around Wheeler High School and extending to the Atlanta Country Club and below River Hills would be included in the 11th District seat currently held by Republican Barry Loudermilk.
The reapportionment process begins on Nov. 3 in a special session called by Gov. Brian Kemp to redraw Congressional, legislative and local elected districts.
Here’s what Georgia’s current Congressional districts look like now, per the Census Bureau; inset metro Atlanta photo is below.
Republicans hold sizable majorities in the House and the Senate. In the U.S. House, there are eight Republicans and six Democrats from Georgia, including McBath.
The Democrats have a 224-214 edge in the 117th Congress (with three vacant seats) and McBath’s re-election in 2022 is considered crucial for their chances of maintaining party control.
McBath ended 40-year GOP control of the 6th District when she unseated former U.S. Rep. Karen Handel in 2018, then defeated Handel in a rematch in 2020. Several Republicans have announced they will be running in 2022, but no other Democrats have announced.
The proposed GOP Congressional map, if approved, would likely solidify the 7th District for a Democrat. That’s currently held by Carolyn Boudreaux, who won in 2020 by a slim margin. The draft map would take a portion of Forsyth County currently in that district and reshape the 7th to include most of Gwinnett County.
Cobb County has two other members of Congress, Loudermilk, whose 11th District currentlly includes Marietta, Smyrna-Vinings and Northwest Cobb.
Democrat David Scott represents District 13 that includes most of South Cobb.
The maps proposed by Duncan and Kennedy would not alter those areas by much.
Nor would the proposed map changes affect the lines in the 14th Congressional District, where Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, a strong ally of former President Donald Trump, has gained national attention since her win in 2020.
She was briefly a candidate in the 6th before switching to the 14th, which is considered the most conservative Congressional district in the state, and includes Paulding County. The new lines would take in some of Bartow County and retain most of northwest Georgia.
“It is clear that this map not only meets principles of redistricting, but we are proud to present a map that regardless of political party, Georgians can be proud of,” Duncan said in a statement “Ensuring that any maps we produce are fair, compact, and keep communities of interest together, will continue to be of upmost importance.”
In response, the Democratic Party of Georgia posted on its social media channels a Gwinnett Daily Post op-ed by State Rep. Sam Park calling for a “fair” redistricting process that includes “establishing [reapportionment] committee guidelines in a public forum” before the special session begins.
Several voting advocacy groups placed the piece, including Progress Georgia, All on the Line, Fair Districts GA and the ACLU of Georgia.
Related stories
- Ga. legislature to hold special session for reapportionment
- Cobb Elections announces 2021 advance voting details
- UGA football legend Herschel Walker to run for U.S. Senate
- Voting information for 2021 Cobb elections
- Army veteran running for 6th Congressional District seat
- Former Cobb Commission candidate named to Ga. Public Service Commission
- Cobb school board calls for Nov. 2021 SPLOST referendum
- KSU student announces run for Cobb school board
- Ex-Ga. ethics commission head announces Congressional bid
- Former legislator seeks 6th District Congressional seat
- East Cobb Republicans vote for elections overhaul bill
- East Cobb Elections Guide
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Amidst all of the “woke” idiocy (see MLB All Star game/voting rights bill nonsense) I have seen in the main stream media over the last five years, relative to partisan reporting of actual news, I was hopeful that your “rag” would stay above the fray, particularly since you rely on the support of the statistically conservative readership that makes up East Cobb. Your true liberal colors are now on full display in this overtly biased article. I am terribly disappointed you have lost your restraint and professional ethics and descended into the abyss. I have thoroughly enjoyed your newsletter since you started but the sad thing is, you probably don’t even realize you have lost your readership. Maybe your sponsors will ultimately make that clear to you. I am immediately unsubscribing. If you ever had a measurable sense of journalistic ethos, you may want to take a step back and assess.
If you could provide examples of what you say is bias it would help me understand your comments. This was a standard news story, not a commentary. If there are factual inaccuracies please bring them to my attention.
Contrary to your assertions, the audience for East Cobb News is growing across all metrics. Per your e-mail request, I have unsubscribed you from the newsletter.
GPB’s Stephen Fowler tweeted out a more detailed map of the proposed 6th District (https://twitter.com/stphnfwlr/status/1442942675624226817/photo/1).
Looks as if most of us outside the proposed East Cobb city lines, as I understand them, would be in Loudermilk’s district instead of McBath’s.