Big news out of Georgia: MVP partners in the Peach State just helped stop Trump-backed redistricting plans!
Georgia’s GOP Governor Brian Kemp called a special legislative session for June 17 and added redistricting to the agenda, in a cynical attempt to make Georgia the latest state to fold in the face of Trump’s gerrymandering demands.
Too bad for Kemp, in what could be considered his swan song before leaving office, members of his own party backtracked on the redistricting plan, which would have likely increased GOP seats in the U.S. House and state legislature and diluted Black political power following the Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais.
Why did the GOP backtrack? Because they feared voter backlash in November. Why? Because of MVP partners’ tenacious and strategic organizing.
Photo: Georgia Working Families Party and Democratic candidates and elected leaders at a redistricting emergency town hall in Atlanta.
How Georgia Organizers Helped Nix GOP Gerrymandering
As soon as the special session was announced, MVP’s Georgia partners started organizing in opposition, despite being in the midst of primary election season and also mobilizing voters for primary runoff elections on June 16. These groups have been fighting back against GOP attacks on voting rights for years, and they were ready, especially after witnessing other states race to gerrymander their maps post-Callais.
- Georgia Working Families Party (GA WFP) launched a simple but effective text-based call to action for people to join the fight, stay informed, and mobilize ahead of Georgia’s special legislative session. They also mobilized their members to show up at the State Capitol on the first day of the special session to make their voices heard and stand up for voting rights.
- Asian American Advocacy Fund (AAAF) created educational resources to help their constituents understand the redistricting process, the terms used, and what was at stake. They also held a “Resist Racist Maps” virtual event to discuss the history of Black and Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) solidarity and what that partnership could look like in this moment.
- Black Voters Matter Fund (BVM) has been leading the fight against racial and partisan gerrymandering in the South in the post-Callais era, including in Georgia. They have been letting everyone know what redistricting in the South is really about — diluting Black political power — and calling on community members to get involved. Along with other MVP partners, they mobilized nearly 500 people to the Georgia State Capitol in opposition to redistricting.
- Georgia Youth Justice Coalition (GYJC) called on young people around the state to share why they oppose redistricting in Georgia, providing direct entry points for young Georgians to get involved in the fight for their future. They also joined BVM and other partners at the State Capitol, showing up in full force to pressure Republicans to abandon their redistricting plans.
Photo: MVP partners, including Black Voters Matter Fund, GA Working Family Party, Georgia Youth Justice Coalition, and Asian American Advocacy Fund, mobilize hundreds of people to protest gerrymandering at the Georgia State Capitol.
“Widespread Pushback,” and the GOP Folded
Alongside our partners, Democratic lawmakers in Georgia celebrated this win, directly attributing it to the people-powered movement that showed up en masse.
Here’s what state Rep. Jasmine Clarke is the Democratic nominee running in Georgia’s 13th Congressional District — a majority-Black district south of Atlanta that would have likely been targeted by redistricting. She did not mince words: “This was a massive victory for the people, who organized and protested these maps because they knew the stakes.”
Clarke wasn’t the only elected leader praising the organizing efforts of groups on the ground in Georgia. As the Georgia Recorder put it, “Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones, an Augusta Democrat, argued the widespread pushback from Georgia residents ultimately led Republican lawmakers to abandon their redistricting plans.”
Here’s what Senator Jones had to say:
"Make no mistake, it was the people of Georgia who put pressure on the General Assembly and let them know they did not appreciate the attempt to steal these elections. … Throughout this process the people have really been galvanized and energized, and so those who wanted to actually restrict African Americans’ voting power, they saw that, and they decided today it was not in their best interest to go forward."
Photo: Georgia Youth Justice Coalition youth leaders at their first-ever Chapter Leader Summit.
The Fight Is Not Over
While this is a huge win for Georgia, the South, and Black voting power, the redistricting fight is not over. Georgia Republicans could still take up redistricting ahead of the 2028 elections.
All eyes are also on pending legal challenges to Georgia’s current maps, which were redrawn during a court-ordered 2023 special legislative session and created one additional Black-majority congressional district and seven additional Black-majority legislative districts. In the post-Callais era, MVP partners are preparing for a negative outcome in these legal proceedings and will keep up the drumbeat for voting rights and support for fair representation in Georgia. All the more reason to invest in the South right now!
To stay up to date on all things redistricting, check out our Redistricting Rundown here.
