McBath wins 6th Congressional District primary
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U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath has won the Democratic nomination for the 6th Congressional District seat, AP projects.
Why it matters: McBath's victory in the primary election over Jerica Richardson and State Rep. Mandisha Thomas means she will avoid a runofff.
Catch up quick: The district was redrawn late last year after a federal judge ruled the previous boundaries violated the Voting Rights Act.
- State lawmakers were ordered to redraw District 6 as a new majority-Black district stretching to include parts of Cobb, Douglas, Fayette and Fulton counties.
Catch up quick: McBath, who became an advocate for gun control following the 2012 murder of her son Jordan Davis, flipped the old Georgia's 6th, a long time suburban Republican stronghold, in 2018.
- In 2022, state legislators redrew the district into a Republican one, and McBath switched to run for the 7th Congressional District — and won.
- McBath announced last year that she would run for the new 6th District, as the AJC reported at the time.
Richardson, who represents District 2 on the Cobb commission, was first elected in 2020, flipping a once-safe Republican seat and the entire Board of Commissioners into Democratic control.
Thomas was first elected in 2020 to state house District 65, which includes parts of south Fulton, Douglas and Coweta counties. She opted not to seek re-election this year to run for Congress.
What's next: McBath will face Jeff Criswell, the only Republican to qualify for the seat, in the Nov. 5 general election.
Editor's note: This story was updated with Tuesday's results.