ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia state Senate approved a redistricting proposal on Friday that is likely to shift a congressional district from Democratic to Republican control, moving it closer to becoming law.
Senators voted 32-21 along party lines to approve Senate Bill 2EX, sending it to the House for more debate. House members are likely to vote on the congressional map on Monday, sending it to Gov. Brian Kemp for his likely signature.
“This map represents all Georgians and is a map we can be proud of,” said state Sen. John Kennedy, a Macon Republican who chaired Senate redistricting efforts. “It’s a pretty map. You don’t see funky lines and weird-drawn districts. It’s a pretty map because you look at it and it is striking visually that it is not gerrymandered.”
State Sen. Elena Parent, an Atlanta Democrat, said a “partisan and rushed process” delivered “a map that fails to reflect the population changes we’ve seen in Georgia. It aims to give Republicans a 64% majority of the congressional delegation in a 50-50 state. It does not add any minority opportunity districts despite all the population increase having come from communities of color.”
Democrats offered and Republicans rejected a map that was likely to result in a 7-7 split between the parties.