brian kemp
Big Win for GOP as Judge Approves Georgia's 'Gerrymandered' House Map
"Federal law requires an end to vote dilution and a real change for injured voters, not reshuffling the same deck," said one plaintiffs' attorney in the case.
U.S. voting rights defenders on Thursday decried a federal judge's ruling upholding Georgia's GOP-drawn congressional map, which critics argue is racially gerrymandered and, given the state's swing status, could tip the balance of power in Washington in 2024.
U.S. District Judge Steve Jones—an appointee of former Democratic President Barack Obama—handed Republicans a major win in his ruling, which found that Georgia's General Assembly "fully complied with this court's order requiring the creation of Black-majority districts in the regions of the state where vote dilution was found."
The decision means that Georgia Republicans will likely keep their 9-5 edge in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp convened a special legislative session earlier this month. State lawmakers redrew the 7th Congressional District, imperiling Democrat Lucy McBath's reelection prospects, while redrawing the 6th Congressional District to make it majority Black to comply with the court's order.
McBath responded to the ruling by announcing she would seek election in the 6th District next year.
"A court just ruled in favor of GOP maps that blatantly target me. But I'm not going anywhere," McBath said on social media. "I refuse to allow an extremist few decide when my work in Congress is complete."
State Rep. Jasmine Clark (D-108) accused the GOP-led Legislature of breaking up one minority-dominant district to create another, which she said violates the Voting Rights Act. Clark added that the new map "blatantly targets" McBath.
While Republicans welcomed Jones' ruling, voting rights advocates condemned the decision—and the new map, claiming it would perpetuate minority voter suppression.
"Federal law requires an end to vote dilution and a real change for injured voters, not reshuffling the same deck," said Ari Savitzky, a senior attorney at the ACLU of Georgia—which represented plaintiffs in the case. "We will continue to hold the General Assembly accountable until Georgia voters get the maps they deserve."
Gerald Griggs, president of the Georgia NAACP, toldReuters that the new map is "racially gerrymandered."
"All of Georgia has now been diluted of our voices," he added. "We respectfully disagree and look forward to further litigation on this issue."
Aunna Dennis, executive director of the progressive advocacy group Common Cause Georgia, said in a statement that "the new maps—drawn unfairly and without transparency—failed to fairly represent Black voters, as ordered by the court."
"Throughout this session, state legislators shuffled our communities to weaken our voices," Dennis added. "Every voter in Georgia deserves to have fair representation in the state Legislature and Congress, and that is why we urge Gov. Kemp to send the Legislature back to the drawing board to design fair maps."
Jones' ruling follows a Wisconsin Supreme Court decision last week that found state Legislature maps rigged by Republican lawmakers unconstitutional. Federal and state courts this year have also struck down gerrymandered maps in Alabama, Florida, and Louisiana.
Georgia Medicaid Debacle Bolsters Progressive Case Against Work Requirements
"While state politicians continue playing games with people's lives, Georgians are dying because they can't afford the healthcare they need," said Sen. Raphael Warnock.
An effort by the Republican-led Georgia government to partially expand Medicaid is falling well short of enrollment expectations, a failure that could stem from the program's burdensome work requirements and other administrative barriers that are abundant in a for-profit system that doesn't guarantee healthcare to all as a right.
Politico reported Tuesday that just 1,800 people enrolled during the program's first four months—leaving the state on pace to miss Republican Gov. Brian Kemp's target of 31,000 enrollees within the first year.
"Critics blame the paltry expansion on an overly complex program with too many hurdles for people to clear," the outlet noted.
Brendan Duke, senior director for economic policy at the Center for American Progress, wrote in response to Politico's reporting that "a large part of progressive opposition to work requirements in safety net programs isn’t principle—it's about the paperwork that prevents working people from enrolling in programs they qualify for."
"Great example with Georgia and Medicaid here," Duke added. "Work requirement supporters will ask, 'Why do you oppose work reqs if the vast majority of people would still qualify?' Some of the problem is you're denying support to people who can't find a job. But some of it is you're functionally denying support to people with a job!"
As Georgia began rolling out its Pathways to Coverage program earlier this year following a legal fight with the Biden administration, researchers at Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families (CCF) argued that the state's insistence on a work requirement would likely box many people out, including workers with irregular hours and parents who lack access to childcare.
The work requirements in Georgia's program do not include an exemption for caregiving or high childcare costs, the CCF experts noted. As such, they warned, "many parents will likely remain uninsured under the Pathways program especially parents of babies and toddlers who are preschool age."
Georgia, which has one of the highest uninsured rates in the U.S., is currently the only state with a Medicaid work requirement in effect—though it's not the first to ever implement one.
In 2018, with the approval of the Trump administration, Arkansas put in place work mandates for Medicaid with disastrous results. Before the policy was blocked in federal court, more than 18,000 people in the state were thrown off Medicaid in just seven months for failing to adhere to the requirements.
The Arkansas policy did not boost employment, an outcome consistent with research showing that work requirements are only effective at stripping people of benefits.
"Pathways to Coverage has cost Georgia more money and covers far fewer people than if the state simply joined 40 other states in expanding Medicaid."
In 2021, the Biden administration rescinded Trump-approved waivers that had allowed Georgia and other states to add work requirements to their Medicaid programs. Georgia challenged the decision in court and prevailed last year, thanks to its argument that the experiment would lead to more people receiving coverage than if the program were blocked.
Kemp has suggested that around 345,000 Georgians could be eligible for the expanded Medicaid program, but the state expects that just around 64,000 will eventually enroll in the program.
That's just 14% of the people who would be covered if Georgia joined nearly every other U.S. state in fully expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, CCF researchers estimated earlier this year.
In addition to covering fewer people than full Medicaid expansion, Georgia's experiment is also expected to cost the state far more.
Leah Chan, senior health analyst at the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, told a local Georgia newspaper earlier this year that Pathways to Coverage will cost roughly $2,420 per enrollee. Full Medicaid expansion, by contrast, would run the state just $496 per enrollee, as the federal government pays much of the cost.
Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) told Politico that "Pathways to Coverage has cost Georgia more money and covers far fewer people than if the state simply joined 40 other states in expanding Medicaid."
"While state politicians continue playing games with people's lives," he added, "Georgians are dying because they can't afford the healthcare they need."
Heightened scrutiny of Georgia's Medicaid experiment comes as states across the U.S. are rapidly conducting eligibility checks and kicking people off Medicaid en masse following the end of pandemic-era protections. Georgia is one of nine Republican-led states that collectively account for 60% of Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program disenrollments this year.
An overwhelming majority of the disenrollments nationwide have been for procedural reasons, such as a paperwork error.
Advocates Demand Removal of Georgia State Republican Named in Election Indictment
"Senator Still, along with others, allegedly signed documents approving electoral votes for former President Trump despite having no authority to serve as qualified electors."
A coalition of voting rights groups demanded Thursday that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Attorney General Christopher Carr begin the process of removing freshman state Sen. Shawn Still, who was named alongside former President Donald Trump and 17 others in a criminal indictment handed down earlier this week by a Fulton County grand jury.
Still (R-48) faces seven charges under the indictment, including a violation of Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute, impersonating a public officer, and forgery.
In a letter to Kemp and Carr, advocates from All Voting Is Local Action, Fair Fight Action, the New Georgia Project Action Fund, and Represent GA Action Network urged the two officials to "move forward with the constitutional authority bestowed on your office to convene a review commission to remove Senator Still from office."
"Senator Still, along with others, allegedly signed documents approving electoral votes for former President Trump despite having no authority to serve as qualified electors," the letter reads. "The allegations raise serious concerns about Sen. Still's ability to fulfill his duties in a manner that upholds the values and principles an elected official must abide by. The charges also prohibit Senator Still from upholding his duties of office. The senator's alleged actions represent an alarming breach of trust and duty with the communities he serves in the legislature."
"While we recognize the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, the pending criminal charges are extremely serious."
Georgia's constitution states that when a lawmaker is indicted, the governor "shall…appoint a review commission" to determine whether "the indictment relates to and adversely affects the administration of the office of the indicted public official and that the rights and interests of the public are adversely affected thereby."
If the commission makes such a determination, the governor "shall suspend the public official immediately and without further action pending the final disposition of the case or until the expiration of the officer's term of office, whichever occurs first," the constitution states.
The voting rights groups argued in their letter that the "grave allegations" in the Fulton County indictment "make clear Senator Still's alleged activities prohibit him from carrying out his duties of office."
"We are calling on you to convene the review commission within 14 days of the indictment," the groups wrote. "While we recognize the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, the pending criminal charges are extremely serious. We firmly believe that it is in the best interest of the state of Georgia for Sen. Still to be removed."