Powder Springs, Georgia, the majority-Black community north of Atlanta, has long been represented in Congress by a Black Democrat – but is unlikely to be for much longer, as CBS News chief election and campaign correspondent Robert Costa said. ‘s report.
Next year, following the midterm elections for the state’s new congressional map, the city will be part of Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, represented by Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Green, a Trump ally who has been criticized by Democrats and some Republicans. Is. conspiratorial thoughts.
Georgia State Rep. David Wilkerson, a Democrat, told CBS News, “What they’ve done is take a predominantly African American territory and reduce our power by combining it with North Georgia.”
The turmoil and anger among some Democrats stemmed from the state’s GOP-controlled legislature, which last year redrawn the lines of the state’s political map after the 2020 census.
Green criticized state Republicans for interfering with her district, but said earlier this year that she welcomes the addition.
“I’m excited to have them in my district,” she told CBS News. “So we’re happy to help and I hope people call us.”
Still, many Democrats say the new maps prepared by Republican state houses in Georgia and across the country are unfair. The alarm extends to Capitol Hill.
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-South Carolina) told CBS News, “I would say they give a racial advantage under the guise of giving a partisan advantage.” “They are taking race into account, but not to be fair, not to be inclusive, but to do just the opposite.”
Clyburn, the highest-ranking black legislator in Congress, said he thinks this is just the beginning of maps drawn up by the GOP that negatively impact how people of color are represented in Congress.
“I think what is happening today is the beginning of a process. Where will it end?” They said.
Democrats are facing their own questions about how they have drawn the lines in blue states.
“They went ahead, they tried to kick the Republican Party out of existence,” said former Republican Representative John Faso, who advised the Republican Party on the redistribution process.
For now, anger and fear remain in places like Georgia over who is representing who in Washington, D.C., just weeks before the midterm election.
“There was no logical way that Marjorie Taylor Green could come into Cobb County, unless you surrounded the district,” Wilkerson said.
Ultimately, the Supreme Court may have the final word on how far the state legislature can go with redistribution. A major case regarding the map, drawn up by North Carolina’s GOP legislature, will be heard in the coming year to decide how and when state courts can reject or accept or accept the way districts are drawn.