Incumbent Democratic House members will face off against one another in Georgia next year, the third such instance forced by redistricting across the country.
Rep. Lucy McBath, a Georgia Democrat, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution she will run in a neighboring suburban Atlanta district after Republican-led redistricting in the Peach State made her current district more friendly to the GOP. The district is currently represented by fellow Democrat Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux, setting the stage for a primary between the two lawmakers.
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Bourdeaux is a more centrist Democrat than McBath, and the primary could mirror divisions between centrists and progressives playing out in the larger Democratic Party.
McBath took aim at Republican Gov. Brian Kemp for Republicans’ new congressional map.
“I refuse to let Brian Kemp, the NRA and the Republican Party keep me from fighting,” McBath said. “They are not going to have the last word.”
Bourdeaux has previously signaled she will seek another term, saying she wants to be “a voice for everyone in this new district.”
McBath became a gun control activist and a candidate for office after her then-17-year-old son, Jordan Davis, was murdered in 2012. She won an upset victory over Republican incumbent Karen Handel in 2018.
“As a Black woman, too often I’ve been told to stand down. I refuse to let our voices be silenced in Congress. And people in that district need a voice,” McBath said. “It’s not about power to me. It’s about keeping promises.”
“I made a promise to Jordan and my family and my community after he died: that I would do everything in my power to prevent the tragedy from happening to any other family,” she continued. “I intend to keep that promise.”
After the 2020 census found population losses in both states, Illinois and West Virginia each lost a seat in their congressional delegation, prompting state lawmakers to redraw their congressional and state legislative district boundaries to reflect their new representation.
In West Virginia, Republican Reps. David McKinley and Alex Mooney will run against each other for a new district, and in Illinois, Democratic Rep. Marie Newman will run against Rep. Sean Casten.
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Additional member vs. member primaries could happen, including a primary between Illinois Republican Reps. Mike Bost and Mary Miller.
