Richardson Congressional campaign kickoff event Archives

Cobb commissioner Jerica Richardson has launched a website and filed initial paperwork to run for the 6th District Congressional seat that includes some of East Cobb. Richardson Congressional campaign kickoff event

The first-term Democrat, whose tenure on the board is the subject of an ongoing legal dispute over redistricting, is holding a kickoff event for her Congressional bid next week.

On Thursday she announced on her campaign’s social media outlets to “join us for our big announcement in 6 DAYS!”

She’s accepting donations on Jerica for Congress website, as well as RSVPs for a kickoff event next Thursday at the Avalon mixed-use development in Alpharetta.

That’s currently within the boundaries of the new 6th Congressional District, which was redrawn by the Republican-dominated Georgia legislature after Democrat Lucy McBath won the seat in 2018.

Those boundaries included East Cobb, North Fulton, Sandy Springs and some of Buckhead.

Last year McBath, a black Democrat, won the 7th Congressional District seat based largely in Gwinnett.

But a federal lawsuit has been filed challenging the Georgia U.S. House maps, contending that they were drawn to dilute minority voting strength.

Richardson resides in the new 6th District, but reapportionment drew her out of her East Cobb home in District 2. Her term expires at the end of next year.

Her Congressional campaign website doesn’t include priorities or other specifics other than some basic biographical information.

“Jerica’s success lies in recognizing that what connects us is far greater than what separates us,” the website states. “Solving problems through collaboration and empowering others is a way of life for Jerica and she wants to put that to work for the citizens of Georgia’s 6th Congressional District.”

She and the board’s other two Democrats approved maps last fall that would have kept her in her commission seat. A lawsuit was filed by Republican commissioner Keli Gambrill to challenge Cobb’s decision to invoke home rule, arguing that only the legislature can conduct reapportionment.

Gambrill was denied standing in the suit in Cobb Superior Court but a hearing on its merits is scheduled for November.

Richardson Congressional campaign kickoff — *Congressional maps showing metro Atlanta seats. Source: Georgia Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office*

The new 6th District includes some of East Cobb, North Fulton and Sandy Springs, and Republican strongholds in Forsyth in Dawson counties were added.

That seat was won last November by Republican Rich McCormick, who got 62 percent of the vote in the general election over Democrat Bob Christian, who has filed to run again in 2024.

But the plaintiffs in the lawsuit are seeking another majority-black Congressional district to be created in metro Atlanta under provisions of the federal Voting Rights Act.

A trial began this week in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, following a ruling last week that struck down a Republican-majority Congressional maps in Alabama for similar reasons. The state has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Richardson was elected in 2020 in her first campaign for public office to succeed three-term Republican commissioner Bob Ott.

According to Federal Election Commission reports, Richardson filed her campaign paperwork on Aug. 16.

In addition to Christian and Richardson, another Democrat has filed to run. Shelly Abraham of Duluth, a mechanical consulting engineer, is a first-time candidate for public office.

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