Cobb County Commissioner Jerica Richardson has announced that she'll seek the Democratic nomination to face Republican Rep. Rich McCormick in a conservative Georgia constituency that civil rights advocates hope will soon look considerably different.
The current version of the 6th District is a predominantly white seat that supported Donald Trump 57-42, but June's Supreme Court decision striking down Alabama's congressional map could also result in the Peach State needing to draw another majority-Black constituency in the Atlanta area. The federal trial over the Republican-drawn map began Tuesday, and the Atlanta Journal-Constitutional writes that it's set to last for a total of two weeks.
Richardson herself is no stranger to the impact of GOP gerrymandering, though, as her county is currently trying to fight off the legislature's attempt to draw her out of her current job a few years after she won a historic victory that helped transform the local government in a community that was a populous Republican stronghold for decades. The area was so red that in 1994, a local state representative ominously joked to the New York Times, "If Bill Clinton came into the district, he probably would not see the light of day again."
Republicans, who carried the county in every presidential election from 1980 through 2012, secured a majority on the five-member County Commission in 1984 as Ronald Reagan won the county in a 77-23 landslide, and they went into the 2020 election with a 4-1 edge. But Hillary Clinton's 48-46 victory in 2016, as well as Cobb County Democrat Lucy McBath's upset win over GOP Rep. Karen Handel two years later in the old 6th, provided early signs that local Republicans were in trouble as the area became more diverse and highly educated suburbanites revolted against the Trump-era party.
Joe Biden prevailed 56-42 here in 2020, a strong showing that both played a key role in his historic statewide win and helped boost county Democrats down the ballot. Two of those Democrats were Richardson, who won 50.5-49.5, and Lisa Cupid, who scored the other pickup that ended the GOP's 36-year commission majority. The elections of Richardson, Cupid, and fellow Democrat Monique Sheffield also ensured that Black women would hold a majority of the commission seats, something that once would have been unthinkable in a place that was a destination point for conservative voters in the era of white flight. (Gwinnett County to the east experienced a similar political metamorphosis.)
Republicans, however, did what they could to end Richardson's tenure by passing a map last year that moved her home out of her constituency, and some legal experts have argued the state's residency requirements could force her out of office even before her term is up. The commission's Democratic majority responded by passing its own map that would keep Richardson where she is, and the matter is still in court.
Richardson decided not to await the outcome of either map dispute before launching her campaign against McCormick, but she may be in for a tough primary if the congressional map is struck down. The plaintiffs have demonstrated how a new majority-Black 6th District could be drawn in the suburbs west of Atlanta, which would include most of Cobb County and have zero overlap with the current 6th. However, even if the court rules in their favor, the resulting new map could still look somewhat different than their proposal.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Greg Bluestein reports that state Sen. Josh McLaurin could run if there's a new seat rooted in the part of Fulton County north of Atlanta. Unnamed allies of McBath, who successfully ran against fellow Democratic incumbent Carolyn Bourdeaux in the Gwinnett County-based 7th after the GOP made the 6th unwinnable, also tell Bluestein she could switch back if there's a favorable map.
