Democratic Party of Georgia Response to Passage of Republicans’ State Senate Map

Today, Georgia Senate Republicans closed debate on and passed along party lines a State Senate map that they have rushed through the legislature since releasing publicly just a week ago.

Georgia Republicans’ State Senate map does not add a single majority minority district, despite 1 million new non-white Georgians in the most recent census, and it targets the only Asian American woman in the State Senate. Republicans’ map also gives the GOP 59% of State Senate seats, despite the fact that over 50% of Georgia voters voted for President Biden, Senator Ossoff, and Senator Reverend Warnock last cycle. 

Republicans released their proposed map to the public less than a week ago, offering Georgians just a couple hours for public testimony before rushing the proposal to a vote. The map’s “significant Republican advantage” earned it an “F” grade in a non-partisan analysis, and Senate Republicans have been unable to give satisfactory answers to basic questions about their proposal, including explanations for why it splits counties with significant minority populations into multiple districts.

In response, Scott Hogan, Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Georgia, released the following statement:

“Georgians asked for a transparent redistricting process and fair maps, and Georgia Senate Republicans have failed tremendously on both fronts by ramming through the legislature a map that does not reflect the Georgia of today. Georgia is becoming more diverse and more evenly divided politically, but Georgia Senate Republicans drew a map that ignored these realities in order to maintain their grip on power, then fast-tracked it to a vote in an attempt to evade public scrutiny.

“For months, Georgia Republicans have been hellbent on suppressing the will of Georgia voters, and the map Senate Republicans passed along party lines today is an extension of that effort. Depriving Georgia voters of the ability to elect a legislature that reflects our state is an egregious assault on our democracy. Voters should pick their representatives, not the other way around, and Democrats will not stop fighting for fair maps that reflect our state and its voters.”

More about Georgia Senate Republicans’ map, which earned an “F” grade from non-partisan experts:

• The proposed map fails to provide fair representation to voters of color.
  • It contains only 20 districts in which minorities are a majority of the voting age population.
    • Specifically, it targets the only Asian-American woman in the Senate by reducing the minority voting age population of SD-48 by 15 percent. In doing so, it splits up communities of interest in the existing district.  
    • In contrast, Georgia Senate Democrats’ plan contains 22 districts in which minorities are a majority of the voting age population, and 15 in which Black voters are a majority of the voting age population.
  • It contains only 14 districts in which Black voters are a majority of the voting age population.
    • Specifically, it reduces the Black voting age population of SD-17 by 10 percent – ensuring that the Black voters in SD-17, as well as the Black voters moved from SD-17 to SD-25, do not have the ability to elect a candidate of choice.
    • Instead of decreasing the number of Black voters in SD-17, it can easily be drawn as a compact majority Black district as demonstrated in Georgia Senate Democrats’ plan.
• The proposed map fails to fairly represent the partisan makeup of Georgia’s electorate.
  • This proposal fails to give voters an opportunity to elect a Senate delegation that reflects Georgians’ political preferences, with the non-partisan analysis saying it creates a “significant Republican advantage.”
  • Georgia is equally divided politically, which we saw clearly in the last election cycle, but this map contains 33 districts that likely elect Republicans and only 23 that likely elect Democrats. 
    • In contrast, Georgia Senate Democrats’ plan contains 27 districts that likely elect Republicans, 25 districts that likely elect Democrats, and 4 competitive districts, which was given an “A” grade for partisan fairness by non-partisan analysis.

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