McBath to leave 6th Congressional District after redrawn map

U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, a Democrat who ended a 40-year hold on Republican representation in the 6th Congressional District in Georgia, is running for a new seat next year. U.S. Rep Lucy McBath, gun violence research funding, McBath border-funding vote

The second-term Congresswoman from Marietta—who has made gun-control one of her major priorities in office—said Monday she will be running in the 7th district, as Georgia’s Republican-led legislature was finalizing reapportionment.

The 6th District that includes East Cobb will soon contain more conservative territory, extending into Cherokee, Forsyth and Dawson counties.

The 6th has included North Fulton and North DeKalb, the latter being the strongest Democratic base for McBath, who defeated former U.S. Rep. Karen Handel in 2018 and 2020.

“It is no mystery why Republicans and the NRA [National Rifle Association] have decided I’m their top target,” McBath said in a statement issued by her campaign office. “As a Black woman, activist, and mother on a mission—they would like nothing more than to stop me from speaking truth to power about the gun lobby and Republican Party in Congress.

“So let me make something very clear: I refuse to stand down. We must fight Republicans every step of the way, and now is not the time to lose a mother on a mission in Congress.”

A former Delta Air Lines flight attendant, McBath had announced her campaign for a state legislative seat in East Cobb in 2018, then switched to the 6th Congressional District after a mass school shooting in Parkland, Fla.

After her teenage son Jordan was shot to death in Florida, she became active in gun-control efforts.

McBath noted the the new 6th District went 26 points for Trump in the 2020 elections, and the new 7th District—which includes South Gwinnett, Johns Creek and Alpharetta— has a voting population that’s 67 percent minorities.

McBath’s decision sets up a potential Democratic primary battle with U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux, although there’s not presently an incumbent inside the newly drawn boundaries.

It also leaves the 6th without an announced Democratic candidate. Starting with Newt Gingrich, the GOP controlled the district handily, continuing with Johnny Isakson and Tom Price through the 2016 elections.

But when Price resigned to join the cabinet of former President Donald Trump, a 2017 special election revealed how the 6th had changed politically.

Political newcomer Jon Ossoff, a former aide to Democratic U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson of DeKalb, jumped into the race, fueled by out-of-state funding in what became the most expensive U.S. House race in history.

Handel won the special election and got strong support in East Cobb, but served only for a little more than a year after McBath unseated her.

Ossoff is now Georgia’s senior senator, after defeating former U.S. Sen. David Perdue in a runoff in January.

Several Republicans announced their intention to run in the 6th before the reapportionment session, including Jake Evans, who said in a statement that McBath’s record “won’t fly in the Sixth District, and it’s no wonder she has fled to another district. Our voters are ready for the Great American Comeback with the leadership of a bold and unafraid America First conservative.”

Georgia’s current Congressional delegation has eight Republicans and six Democrats, and once the final maps are approved, it’s likely the GOP will have nine seats.

As noted over the weekend, the proposed map would divide Cobb into four Congressional Districts, with East Cobb being split into the 6th and 11th. Three of those four seats will likely be in GOP hands, including freshman firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene.

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