ATLANTA– Jerica Richardson, a county commissioner in suburban Atlanta, announced Tuesday that she will challenge U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath in May’s Democratic primary in a new congressional district on Atlanta’s west side.
Richardson, a Cobb County commissioner, had previously said she would run for Congress, but her decision was uncertain after Georgia state lawmakers radically redrawn McBath’s current district. McBath jumped to a new 6th Congressional District in Fulton, Cobb, Douglas and Fayette counties, where Richardson will also run.
The new district is predominantly black, and Richardson and McBath are both black. No other candidate has announced their intention to run.
Richardson said in a statement Tuesday that she decided to take action against McBath after a Georgia judge ruled Monday that Cobb County commissioners could not override lawmakers and redraw their own districts.
The Republican-majority Legislature approved maps that pulled Richardson from her committee district. Commissioners claimed in 2022 that they had the power to create their own districts, but a judge rejected that claim. The county has said it will appeal the judge’s ruling to the state Supreme Court.
But in the meantime, Richardson said, she’s running for Congress.
“Too many voters feel like they are being ignored,” Richardson said. “I decided to run to remind people how powerful they really are, to restore hope, and to help spread information that empowered members of my community.”
Running against McBath can be an uphill climb. The incumbent president said last week that she has already raised more than $1 million for her 2024 race.
“I refuse to let the Republican Party bully me out of Congress,” McBath said Friday. “The stakes are too high.”
However, Richardson said there is no incumbent in the district and most voters will vote for a different representative than they currently have. Most of the district was represented by U.S. Reps. David Scott and Nikema Williams, both Democrats from Atlanta.
This will be the second election in a row that McBath is organizing in a new district. After the district she originally won was redrawn in favor of Republicans, she jumped to her current 7th District, which includes parts of Gwinnett and Fulton counties. But during a special session in December, under a federal judge’s order, Republican lawmakers dissolved that district and created a new 7th District stretching north into the Georgia mountains. Republican U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick is running for that seat.