Georgia Republicans were confronted with a fundamental mismatch when it comes to redistricting.
They weren’t going to reap the benefits of new maps until 2028, but they were going to face the risk of a political backlash this November.
Add the general discomfort that redistricting always creates, and by the time a special session began Wednesday, talk had been circulating for days that rank-and-file Republican lawmakers were balking. Those qualms led to House Speaker Jon Burns and Senate President Pro Tem Larry Walker III announcing, as they were drowned out by the chants of voting rights activists in the state Capitol, that Republicans would skip drawing congressional and legislative maps for now.
“We have plenty of time to address it,” state Rep. Scott Hilton, a Peachtree Corners Republican targeted by Democrats, said later Wednesday.
Democrats threatened to make redistricting an issue that would galvanize their voters, hoping to reelect U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff and elect as governor former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.