Warnock: GOP-led redistricting targeting Black seats a ‘betrayal’
Georgia U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock said he is deeply disappointed as he watches Republicans rush to redraw maps and eliminate seats held by Black lawmakers.
“It is a betrayal of the highest in the American ideals,” the Atlanta Democrat said during a recent interview on the “Politically Georgia” podcast. “And the same politicians who will be lining up, some of them wanting to come to my church in January and sing praises to Martin Luther King Jr. and remember him, are dismembering his legacy in real time.”
Warnock said these efforts, a reaction to last month’s Supreme Court ruling that weakened the Voting Rights Act, will have lasting consequences that could unravel progress made during the Civil Rights Movement. But he isn’t giving up.
Warnock serves as head pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church from the same pulpit where King once preached. He pulls double duty as a member of the Senate, where preserving voting rights is one of his top priorities.
Georgia is one of several southern states where Republicans are redrawing maps in light of the Louisiana v. Callais decision that narrowed a key provision of the Voting Rights Act outlawing discrimination based on race. That ruling led the way for states to draw highly partisan maps while narrowing the opportunity for opponents to object on the basis of racial discrimination.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has called for a June special session to draw maps that go into effect during the 2028 election year. Because Black voters overwhelmingly vote for and run for office as Democrats, any effort to create more Republican-held seats will likely decrease the number of Black lawmakers.
That will have an effect on the conversations that happen not just in the U.S. Capitol but even at the state and local level, Warnock said.
“We all come from different backgrounds,” he said. “We have different life experiences. And Congress works best — your local city council works best — when it looks like America, when you have that kind of representation.”
Kemp has deflected criticism from Democrats as unwarranted and premature.
“They haven’t seen the maps yet, so they might want to wait and see what the Legislature does,” he said.
For Warnock, protecting voting rights and creating national election standards is such a priority he made it the topic of his inaugural floor speech in 2021. He is a lead sponsor of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, a Democrat-led proposal to strengthen provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 weakened by recent Supreme Court rulings.
The senator said he believes these conversations are not just about access to the ballot but preserving American democracy.
“Democracy is the house that we actually live in,” he said. “So, when you go after that, it’s like setting the house on fire.”
Listen to the full interview on the Politically Georgia podcast and on YouTube.
About the Author
Tia Mitchell is the AJC’s Washington Bureau Chief and a co-host of the "Politically Georgia" podcast. She writes about Georgia’s congressional delegation, campaigns, elections and the impact that decisions made in D.C. have on residents of the Peach State.
