Georgia legislators take steps to approve new maps

Driving the news: State House members on Friday voted 101-77 to approve the GOP-drawn map of its districts, sending it to the Senate for consideration.

• Senate members did the same for their map, voting 32-23 in approval and sending it to the House.

Why it matters: The special session was called after U.S. District Court Judge Steve C. Jones ruled the current maps violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

• The judge ordered the General Assembly to create five new majority-Black districts in the House and two in the Senate, most of which are in metro Atlanta.

The big picture: The new maps thwart Democrats' attempts to add to their ranks in the General Assembly by protecting every Senate incumbent and possibly losing two House seats, the AJC reports.

• The AJC also reports the proposed congressional map could go against the judge's order because any remedies the state approves must not break up existing districts that have "substantial" minority populations.
• The proposal retains the 9-5 advantage Republican U.S. House members have over Democrats.

Georgia House: The GOP House places three sets of Democrats and another set of Republicans into the same district in its proposed map, including:

• Democrats Teri Anulewicz and Doug Stoner in Cobb;
• Sam Park and Gregg Kennard in Gwinnett;
• and Republicans Beth Camp and David Knight in Lamar, Pike and Spalding counties.

Georgia Senate: The GOP's state Senate map moves Democrats Elena Parent and Jason Esteves from majority-white to majority Black districts, the AJC previously reported.

U.S. Congress: A redrawn congressional map released Friday afternoon shows, among other things, a new majority-Black 6th District encompassing central and southern Fulton, eastern Douglas and south Cobb counties.

• In turn, the 7th District pushes further north to include the tip of North Fulton and runs through Forsyth, Dawson and Lumpkin counties.
• State House Speaker John Burns said the proposed congressional map complies with the judge's order.
• Jake Orvis, the campaign manager for Lucy McBath, who represents the 7th District, released a statement Friday saying Republicans are trying to "subvert voters by changing the rules."
• McBath"refuses to let an extremist few in the state legislature determine when her time serving Georgians in Congress is done," he said.

What they're saying: Camp said Friday during the House floor debate that the situation "deeply saddens me" because she cares about her constituents, but to meet the judge's order, her case is an example of the "drastic changes" that had to happen.

• "Emotions cannot rule in this important task with a looming deadline," she said, referring to the judge's Dec. 8 deadline for the task to be completed.

The other side: House Minority Leader James Beverly told Axios last week that while the GOP map does create five new majority-Black districts, it dismantles other majority-minority districts, which is against the law.

• If the judge determines that to be the case, then the judge would appoint a special master to draw the map, said Beverly, who represents Macon.
• "So you can't say we complied and break the law," he said "It's not how America works; it's certainly not how Georgia works; and it's certainly not what Judge Jones ordered."

What's next: A floor vote for both the House and Senate maps can happen as early as Monday. The proposed congressional map will have to go through the public hearing process before being voted on by legislators.