Cobb County Commissioner Jerica Richardson announced Tuesday that she'd continue her bid for Georgia's revamped and safely blue 6th Congressional District even though she'll now need to face 7th District Rep. Lucy McBath in the May 21 Democratic primary.
While Richardson had said last month that she wouldn't challenge a Democratic incumbent, she changed course this week. "I am committed to what I am always committed to—which is the people of this district," she said in a statement.
In September, Richardson launched a challenge to Republican Rep. Rich McCormick, who represents the existing 6th District, at a moment when voting rights advocates hoped that pending litigation would lead to the creation of a new, majority-Black constituency in the Atlanta area. (Both Richardson and McBath are Black.) Republicans did create such a seat—the new 6th—but at the expense of McBath's previous district.
McBath responded by announcing she'd run for the 6th even though it doesn't overlap with her current district, while McCormick is seeking the revamped—and solidly red—7th.
Richardson is likewise hoping the new district will prove to be a safe landing place, since she, like McBath, has been targeted by GOP lawmakers: In a separate suit, a state judge ruled on Monday that the county commission map approved by the legislature, which drew Richardson out of her district, could remain intact. (An appeal is pending.)
This isn't the first time, though, that McBath has campaigned for a seat that's largely unfamiliar to her. In 2022, the GOP passed a different map that turned her old 6th District dark red. McBath decided to run next door in the 7th against fellow Democratic Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux, even though her opponent began with a big advantage on paper: While Bourdeaux already served 57% of the new seat, McBath represented just 12% of it.
Those figures did not, however, line up with the final results. McBath, a prominent gun safety activist, ran to the left of Bourdeaux, who had joined a group of renegade Democratic moderates the previous year by threatening to derail the Biden administration's Build Back Better agenda if they didn't get a vote on Congress' bipartisan infrastructure bill first. McBath went on to win in a 63-31 landslide before easily claiming a third term in the fall.
Richardson won't have quite the geography advantage Bourdeaux did, but she does represent 11% of the new 6th District, 38% of which is in Cobb County.
Campaign Action
While Richardson had said last month that she wouldn't challenge a Democratic incumbent, she changed course this week. "I am committed to what I am always committed to—which is the people of this district," she said in a statement.
In September, Richardson launched a challenge to Republican Rep. Rich McCormick, who represents the existing 6th District, at a moment when voting rights advocates hoped that pending litigation would lead to the creation of a new, majority-Black constituency in the Atlanta area. (Both Richardson and McBath are Black.) Republicans did create such a seat—the new 6th—but at the expense of McBath's previous district.
McBath responded by announcing she'd run for the 6th even though it doesn't overlap with her current district, while McCormick is seeking the revamped—and solidly red—7th.
Richardson is likewise hoping the new district will prove to be a safe landing place, since she, like McBath, has been targeted by GOP lawmakers: In a separate suit, a state judge ruled on Monday that the county commission map approved by the legislature, which drew Richardson out of her district, could remain intact. (An appeal is pending.)
This isn't the first time, though, that McBath has campaigned for a seat that's largely unfamiliar to her. In 2022, the GOP passed a different map that turned her old 6th District dark red. McBath decided to run next door in the 7th against fellow Democratic Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux, even though her opponent began with a big advantage on paper: While Bourdeaux already served 57% of the new seat, McBath represented just 12% of it.
Those figures did not, however, line up with the final results. McBath, a prominent gun safety activist, ran to the left of Bourdeaux, who had joined a group of renegade Democratic moderates the previous year by threatening to derail the Biden administration's Build Back Better agenda if they didn't get a vote on Congress' bipartisan infrastructure bill first. McBath went on to win in a 63-31 landslide before easily claiming a third term in the fall.
Richardson won't have quite the geography advantage Bourdeaux did, but she does represent 11% of the new 6th District, 38% of which is in Cobb County.
Campaign Action