Mid-decade gerrymandering isn’t new for Georgia, but voters were the losers
Texas recently enacted a mid-decade redistricting plan for its congressional districts. President Donald Trump called for Texas to gerrymander an already-biased map to gain Republican seats in the 2026 election.
This is a blatant attempt to cheat voters in Texas and across the country, affecting the balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives.
California has countered with a ballot proposal going to voters to redraw their map to even the score. Missouri’s governor just signed a bill into law to favor Republicans. Other states, such as Florida, Ohio, New York and Illinois are considering joining the fray.
This is an urgent moment for our country’s democracy. This potential “war between the states” for mid-cycle redistricting is mutually assured destruction of a representative democracy.
It will lead to further alienation of already exhausted voters. Constant “rigging of maps” to favor one party violates people’s right to self-government. The concrete effect is that public policy that the majority of Americans and Georgians want cannot be passed.
Ga. saw four waves of gerrymandering over the last quarter century
Redistricting traditionally occurs once per decade, following the decennial census. That current redistricting plan or map should stand through 2032. Any attempt to redraw maps without waiting for the next census, unless court ordered, should be viewed with suspicion by voters.
This is pure partisan madness. Could it happen in Georgia?
Shocking news: It already has. Sadly, it is an established, destructive practice. Since 2006, over 70 legislative and congressional districts have been altered mid-decade, in four major waves, according to Fair Districts GA. Both parties are involved.
In 2004, the Supreme Court overturned a partisan gerrymander engineered by Democrats in 2001 and redrew legislative maps. In 2006, a newly elected Republican majority in the General Assembly decided to “fix the Democratic gerrymander” and redrew the entire congressional map. The result: the Republican majority gained 10 state house seats despite virtually no gain in statewide vote share.
After the 2010 census, lawmakers altered another 23 assembly seats. Their objective: gain a veto-proof super-majority in the Georgia General Assembly. It worked in the state Senate, and was only one seat short in the house, despite a 2.4% decline in statewide vote share. When vote share declines but seat share increases, gerrymandering is at work.
In 2015, another 17 assembly seats were altered. Some of these changes drew lawsuits because they disadvantaged minority voters. Court depositions revealed the motivation: they wanted to make it easier for incumbents to get reelected, and it worked again as the majority prevailed. In essence, they defended racial gerrymandering with partisan motivation.
Finally, in 2023, Georgia lawmakers redrew state and congressional maps because a federal court ruled that the 2021 maps disadvantaged minority voters. The court identified specific regions around metro Atlanta and Macon that required changes and ordered eight new districts for Black voters. While the legislature complied with this order, it made changes to other districts to “preserve the existing partisan balance.” Fair Districts GA released public scorecards for the revised maps chastising lawmakers for evening the score and perpetuating the unfair partisan advantage of the 2021 maps.
Let voters decide who wins, not incumbents who want to stay in office
This is all legal. Georgia law is purposely vague. Although the state constitution ties redistricting to the census, it does not prohibit mid-decade changes.
Who is hurt by this? Georgia voters. Maps that are continuously rigged to favor one party pre-determine the outcome of our elections. In 2024, out of 180 state House seats, only six were competitive. One state Senate race was almost competitive. Statistical research by the Princeton Gerrymandering Project in 2021 showed that fair maps would have produced 11 to 20 competitive races in the state House, two to six in the Senate, and at least one for Congress. Fair maps would tilt right but have more competitive districts. When we talk with voters, the single thing they request is competition. With more competitive districts, legislators must work towards bipartisan consensus, resulting in legislation that improves the lives of all Georgians.
This makes a huge difference. Imagine the 2026 election with 15 competitive House seats and four competitive senate seats. The control of the General Assembly would be decided by voters. Isn’t that the way it should be? Wouldn’t that re-enfranchise those voters losing interest with non-competitive districts?
Fair Districts GA believes that mid-decade redistricting should be banned. Maps should hold for the decade. Maps changed under court order should only contain minimum changes. Georgia should lead the nation by banning this practice.
Becky Evans served as a Democratic Georgia state representative from 2019 to 2025. She is a board member for Fair Districts GA.
