ATLANTA — The Georgia House voted 96-68 on Monday to approve the state's new congressional district map. The map now heads to Gov. Brian Kemp's desk for his signature.
The map sets the boundaries for the state's 14 congressional districts.
Minutes after Monday's vote Rep. Lucy McBath's campaign office released a statement announcing she plans to "run for newly-created Democratic district (GA-07)."
McBath flipped Georgia's 6th district in 2018 when she beat then Congresswoman Karen Handel. McBath won re-election in 2020 after a re-match with Handel.
Under the plan, McBath's current district loses Democratic-leaning voters of color in DeKalb County and replaces them with mostly white voters in Dawson and Forsyth Counties.
McBath on Monday said she was targeted by Republicans during redistricting.
The statement from McBath's campaign reads: “Census data showed GA-06 needed the least population change of any congressional district in the state, and yet GA Republicans shifted the district I currently hold twenty-six points to Trump to draw me out of Congress. It is no mystery why Republicans and the NRA have decided I’m their top target. As a Black woman, activist, and mother on a mission—they would like nothing more than to stop me from speaking truth to power about the gun lobby and Republican Party in Congress."
In reaction, McBath said she will seek re-election but will be running in GA-07, which according to her staff will be comprised of 67 percent minority voters and 55 percent of the voters are African American.
"What the majority party will often do is eliminate some of its opposition," said said UGA Political Science Professor Charles Bullock. "And by reducing the number of districts available for a Democrat in which to run, she is right, it (GA-06) becomes much more Republican and she would have virtually no chance at winning in that."
Bullock is an expert on the topic of redistricting. He even wrote the book titled "Redistricting."
The 7th district is currently represented by Congresswoman Carolyn Bourdeaux. Her campaign office confirmed with 11Alive she plans to seek re-election in her district.
In a statement Monday she wrote, "Georgia’s 7th district deserves a representative that understands their issues. I am the Gwinnett representative in the race for a predominantly Gwinnett district. The people of the 7th deserve a representative that understands and cares about their needs and has a record of fighting for them in Washington. It’s my hard-fought honor to serve the people of Gwinnett and GA’s 7th district, and I look forward to continuing to do so."
According to Bourdeaux's staff, the newly drawn 7th contains 60 percent of her current constituents and is largely in Gwinnett county where she lives.
Bullock said for Republicans, this could become a victory on two fronts.
"The insidious part of redistricting is that people who may have been friends now become enemies as they both compete within a single district," Bullock.
First, by forcing the 6th district to lean right, it appears Republicans are set to regain control of a district it lost in 2018.
Second, Republicans could end up sending a vocal Democrat home if she doesn't win in the 7th district.
"McBath is one of the most outspoken supporters of gun control and high visibility both in Georgia and nationally as a result of her family tragedy," Bullock said. "If she is eliminated then that removes a potentially important person who would discuss that topic and have great credibility."