Georgia Republican legislative leaders reject governor's call for 2028 redistricting

By — Bill Barrow, Associated Press Bill Barrow, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/georgia-republican-legislative-leaders-reject-governors-call-for-2028-redistricting Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Georgia Republican legislative leaders reject governor's call for 2028 redistricting Politics Jun 17, 2026 6:18 PM EDT ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's Republican legislative leaders on Wednesday rejected Gov. Brian Kemp's call to redraw congressional and legislative districts during a special session, citing concerns about moving too quickly after a U.S. Supreme Court decision weakened federal Voting Rights Act protections for minority voters. The aborted effort to reduce nonwhite voters' representation contrasts other Southern states where Republican majorities moved quickly to redraw congressional boundaries ahead of the November midterms, partly in response to President Donald Trump's pleas to shore up the GOP's fragile House majority. Educate your inbox Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. Civil rights activists and Democrats, especially Black and other nonwhite lawmakers, celebrated the development and claimed victory after exerting weeks of pressure and gathering hundreds of citizens at the Georgia Capitol on Wednesday ahead of the session. "Today showed that ordinary people don't need to wait until November to make their voices heard and protect our democracy," said U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, the state's first Black senator who returned to Atlanta from Washington to be at the Capitol. "We can stand up and speak right now." READ MORE: Georgia Republicans choose Collins for Senate and Jackson for governor, a mixed result for Trump Kemp had not asked his fellow Republicans to reopen Georgia districts ahead of November. Instead, he wanted them to redraw congressional boundaries for the 2028 election. But the governor, in the final months of his second term, also called on lawmakers to redraw their own districts — a move that would have made Georgia the first state to apply the Supreme Court's Louisiana v. Callais decision to its legislature. State House Speaker Jon Burns sent Kemp a letter hours before Wednesday's special session was set to begin, informing him that legislators would not consider redistricting at all during the session. He announced the decision publicly shortly after, as demonstrators filled the Capitol with chants of "Black voters matter!" Kemp did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press on Wednesday. READ MORE: Live Results: Georgia midterm Republican primary runoff Burns said lawmakers want to take their time after the Callais decision, which struck down Louisiana's congressional map as an illegal racial gerrymander and laid the groundwork for legislatures to reduce the number of districts where Black and other nonwhite voters hold most sway. The sp