With an election ballot deadline fast approaching, critics of Georgia’s new congressional and legislative maps are preparing for a hearing before the federal judge who rejected the state’s previous political boundaries on grounds they illegally weaken Black voting strength.
The plaintiffs who successfully sued to overturn Georgia’s political maps filed a volley of legal briefs this week to U.S. District Judge Steve Jones arguing that the new versions “do not come close to following the court’s order” and “do not advance the work of building an equal political process.”
And the Georgia chapter of the NAACP on Wednesday urged Jones to again “reject the maps and direct the appointment of a special master to undertake the task of redrawing the legislative boundaries.”
Jones, who triggered this month’s legislative redistricting session, has set a Dec. 20 hearing to review the maps. In October, he ordered lawmakers to reconfigure the boundaries to include an additional majority-Black U.S. House district and seven new majority-Black legislative districts.
The GOP-led rewrite wiped out Democratic U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath’s Gwinnett-based majority-minority district and drew a new majority-Black district stretching across four counties on the western edges of Atlanta. McBath, who is Black, has twice had her district overhauled since she was first elected in 2018.
Republicans say they complied with Jones’ order. They drew maps that preserved their majorities even as they set up a longer-term legal clash over the fate of the Voting Rights Act.
As the legal battle escalates, Democratic candidates — and millions of voters — are locked in limbo. That’s because even if Jones strikes down the maps, Republicans hope for a more favorable decision by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The clock is ticking. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger says his office must have final maps for 2024 by late January to build ballots for next year’s elections.
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TNS
TNS
ABORTION PILL. The United States Supreme Court’s announcement that it will take up a high-stakes case over the availability of a commonly used abortion pill has Democrats increasingly concerned that another major decision involving reproductive rights could go against them.
The case involves the medication mifepristone and will be the first major abortion case the high court has taken up since it overturned Roe v. Wade last year. Mifepristone is used in more than half of pregnancy terminations in the U.S.
Arvin Temkar/AJC
Arvin Temkar/AJC
Democratic state Rep. Shea Roberts, one of her party’s leading abortion rights advocates, said she was “devastated by the possibility that women’s safety and health care could be further compromised here in Georgia by the elimination of mifepristone.”
“The last thing we need to do is further restrict access to safe reproductive care,” said Roberts, D-Atlanta. “It’s just more in the long-running effort by extreme, anti-choice Republicans to put the government in charge of our bodies and ban all abortion.”
The case was brought by Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal group that asked the court to agree with other legal decisions that restrict access to the medication.
“Every court so far has agreed that the FDA acted unlawfully in removing commonsense safeguards for women and authorizing dangerous mail-order abortions,” said Erin Morrow Hawley, an attorney with the group. “We urge the Supreme Court to do the same.”
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Miguel Martinez/AJC
Miguel Martinez/AJC
LISTEN UP. The petition drive aimed at forcing a public vote on the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center is short on valid signatures, an analysis conducted by the AJC and news partners indicates. The lead journalist on that review, the AJC’s Riley Bunch, joins today’s episode of the “Politically Georgia” radio show and podcast to discuss the takeaways.
Also on the Thursday edition, the AJC’s Tamar Hallerman breaks down an exclusive interview she and colleague Bill Rankin did with Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis earlier this week.
“Politically Georgia” airs live at 10 a.m. on WABE 90.1 FM, at AJC.com and at WABE.org. Catch the podcast version at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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Natrice Miller/AJC
Natrice Miller/AJC
BIDEN IMPEACHMENT. The U.S. House voted strictly along party lines to authorize an impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden.
The vote was 221-212. All nine Republicans in Georgia’s delegation voted “yes” and all five Democrats were a “no.”
U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville, described his vote as an effort to bring accountability to the Biden administration.
“Today’s House vote formalizing an impeachment inquiry into President Biden is about one thing: Getting full transparency and complete accountability for the American people,” he wrote on social media.
Democrats charged Republicans of using their thin majority to play politics as Biden seeks a second term in the 2024 election. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta, accused GOP lawmakers of doing former President Donald Trump’s bidding by trying to weaken the president.
“Now, just a day before sending us home for the year, House Republicans are following orders from the failed former president, launching an illegitimate impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden,” she wrote in a news release. “After a year of Republican investigation, no wrongdoing has been found.”
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NDAA ADVANCES. The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of the negotiated version of the National Defense Authorization Act, a sweeping military policy package.
Georgia Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock were among the 87 lawmakers from both parties who voted in favor of the package. The 13 dissenters also came from both parties. Ossoff in a statement said it was important for the agreement to be bipartisan in nature.
Natrice Miller/AJC
Natrice Miller/AJC
“Georgians are united in our commitment to a strong national defense and in our gratitude to military service members, military families, and veterans,” the Atlanta Democrat said. “That’s why I’ve helped bring Republicans and Democrats together to pass this bipartisan legislation, which will strengthen our national defense and enhance military quality of life.”
Warnock, D-Georgia, highlighted provisions in the bill, including new benefits for spouses of deceased military members and a 5.2% pay raise for military service members.
“Georgia is a military state — one in 10 Georgians is connected to the military,” he said in a statement. “So, as a voice for our state in the Senate, and the proud son of a veteran, I’ve been committed to working to advance policies and investments in the annual defense bill that will benefit Georgia servicemembers and military installations, and beyond.”
The measure now goes to the House where a vote has been scheduled for this morning.
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Nathan Posner for the AJC
Nathan Posner for the AJC
VIOLENCE PREVENTION. Vice President Kamala Harris and the White House’s new Office of Gun Violence Prevention convened 100 state legislators on Wednesday to announce the launch of the Safer States Initiative to reduce gun violence.
U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, a Marietta Democrat, spoke during the event about her work in Congress and the Biden administration’s efforts to decrease the number of firearm deaths. She talked about her son, Jordan, and how his murder 11 years ago launched her activism on the issue.
“To be able to speak before this gathering of state legislators at the White House as the mother of Jordan Davis and a United States congresswoman is humbling,” she said in a statement afterward.
This morning, McBath will join House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and others at a news conference marking 11 years since the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting. McBath serves as vice chairwoman of the House Democrats’ Gun Violence Prevention Task Force.
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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden delivers remarks from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, about his efforts to lower prescription drug costs.
- The House could vote on whether to approve the compromise agreement on the National Defense Authorization Act.
- The Senate has a confirmation hearing scheduled.
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HIGHWAY DOLLARS. Georgia’s road infrastructure needs $80 billion worth of improvements by 2050 and only $26 billion worth of projects are currently underway. That’s according to Georgia Department of Transportation commissioner Russell McMurry, who sounded the alarm before the State Transportation Board on Wednesday.
McMurry estimates freight tonnage traveling Georgia’s highways will double from 2015 levels by the middle of the century. A 2015 study prompted the state’s most recent major transportation investment push.
Projects included upgrades to key interstate highway interchanges, such as the I-75/I-16 junction in Macon and the I-95/1-16 crossing near Savannah; construction of commercial vehicle lanes; and a number of improvements near the Port of Savannah, where cargo container volume has doubled in the last decade.
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Arvin Temkar/AJC
Arvin Temkar/AJC
SENATE CHANGES. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is getting more backup in the top ranks of his staff.
He’s hired Jantz Womack as his new press secretary. Womack joins Ines Owens, who remains as the lieutenant governor’s policy and communications director.
Jones, R-Jackson, has also tapped Chris Hartline, a veteran Republican operative who is a senior adviser to U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, to serve as one of his top strategists.
Those aren’t the only changes at the Capitol. As we reported yesterday, House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, hired Stephen Lawson — a former Jones aide — as his lead communications specialist.
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Courtesy photo
Courtesy photo
DOG OF THE DAY. Meet Archie Wood, the Cobb County Christmas cat we’re told is currently on Santa’s naughty list. Archie calls AJC subscriber and loyal “Politically Georgia” reader Laci Wood his person.
Archie, we’re not 100% sure what you did to get on the bad list, but with a face like that, we’re certain you’ll be back on Santa’s good side before Christmas Eve, especially once he finds out you’re our Dog of the Day!
Send us your dogs of any political persuasion and location, and cats on a cat-by-cat basis, to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us at @MurphyAJC.
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AS ALWAYS, “Politically Georgia” readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com, and adam.vanbrimmer@ajc.com.
