Ga. Senate GOP Congressional district draft map released Archives

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.

Ga. 117th Congress maps — *View the current Georgia statewide map in the 117th Congress **by clicking here**.*

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.

*Some areas of East Cobb currently in the 6th District would be in the 11th in the proposed GOP map. For more details, **click here**.*

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.