ATLANTA — The General Assembly could approve new Congressional district maps on Thursday, putting the ball back in a federal court for approval.
A House committee approved the proposed maps along party lines as expected.
It drastically redraws Georgia’s 7th Congressional District.
Republicans say it’s fair, but Democrats in that area say it’s not.
The 7th District is currently represented by Rep. Lucy McBath, a Democrat, and seems to maintain the GOP hold on Georgia’s Congressional delegation.
After Wednesday’s hearing, committee chair Rob Leverett admitted to Channel 2′s Richard Elliot that they did draw the map to maintain control -- which is legal -- but he says that wasn’t the only reason.
“We certainly considered partisan considerations in the drawing of these maps, or at least we did, but I tried to do so in a way that was restrained and responsible,” Leverett said.
Gwinnett Democratic state Rep. Jasmine Clark’s district is in that affected area.
“I was thoroughly disappointed in this entire process,” Clark said.
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A federal court judge ordered Georgia to redraw the lines after, he said, the original district lines violated the Constitution.
Clark doesn’t think the new Republican-drawn map adheres to that judge’s order.
“They took the judge’s order and tried to find the loosest interpretation of that order in order to maintain control and not actually do what the judge asked,” Clark said.
Leverett insisted they followed the judge’s order to the letter.
“I believe we’ve complied with the order, and it certainly would seem to me that if you read the text, we have complied,” Leverett said.
The committee approval on Wednesday sets up a vote for the full house on Thursday. If approved, it will head to the governor’s desk for signing.
From there, the federal judge will review what they did.
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