Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, said Friday his state will not redraw its congressional lines ahead of the midterms, rejecting calls to reschedule the state’s upcoming primary.

The outgoing Republican governor said that he will not cancel Georgia’s May 19 primary or rush to redraw congressional maps, following a Supreme Court ruling that gutted the Voting Rights Act and triggered a Republican-led push to redraw districts across the South.

Kemp made it clear that he will not be a part of that push this cycle, but praised the court’s ruling.

“The Supreme Court’s decision Louisiana v. Callais restores fairness to our redistricting process and allows states to pass electoral maps that reflect the will of the voters, not the will of federal judges,” Kemp said Friday.

“Voting is already underway for the 2026 elections,” he added, meaning changes to the maps would not be possible this year.

However, he acknowledged that the ruling would still impact Georgia’s elections in the future: “It’s clear that Callais requires Georgia to adopt new electoral maps before the 2028 election cycle.”

President Donald Trump ignited a redistricting war earlier this cycle, when he first urged Texas Republicans to redraw their lines. Democratic and Republican states responded in kind — including Florida, North Carolina, California and Virginia — bringing the change in seats to roughly a draw.

But the Supreme Court’s ruling striking down a Louisiana congressional map that created a second majority Black district has led to calls from Republicans for more last-minute redraws, particularly in Southern states.

The decision triggered Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, also a Republican, to order his state’s upcoming primaries be canceled days before early voting was scheduled to start in order to redraw the maps.

Trump also said Thursday he had spoken to Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, and that Tennessee would be moving to erase a Democratic-held seat there.

Centrist Democrats are seeking to flex their messaging muscles ahead of the midterms, with a nonprofit affiliated with an influential group of House Democratic moderates set to host its inaugural policy conference later this month.

The Effective Governing Coalition is hosting the May 12 forum, billed as “Delivering an Effective Economy: A Solutions Conference,” at Washington’s Planet Word Museum. The group launched in 2024 as an offshoot of the centrist New Democratic Coalition and prioritizes economic growth, environmental sustainability, health care access and national defense.

The event, which will include new polling on cost-of-living concerns and focus on how Democratic leaders can boost affordability, comes as the center and left wings of the party have started laying out visions for an affordability agenda.

The New Democrats, the House’s largest Democratic Caucus, released a 16-page “Affordability Agenda” earlier this year, which details specific policy proposals targeting grocery, health care, housing, energy and family-related costs. The Congressional Progressive Caucus unveiled a 10-point legislative plan to lower costs earlier this week.

The forum is not the EGC’s first foray into messaging around lowering costs. The group, founded by longtime Democratic operatives Mike Goodman and Kyle Layman, boosted swing-district members of the New Democrat Coalition in a summer ad buy blasting Republicans’ Medicaid-cutting megabill.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), who said last month she has not ruled out a run for president, will speak at a fireside chat. Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), the New Dems chair, as well as Reps. Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.), Salud Carbajal (D-Cali.), Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Mich.), Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash.) and Greg Stanton (D-Ari.) will also attend.

Other speakers include Fox News commentator Jessica Tarlov, political reporters Leigh Ann Caldwell and Molly Ball, Impact Research’s Molly Murphy, SKDK’s Doug Thornell and Third Way’s Lanae Erickson.

Another sign that the group is buckling down ahead of November’s election: The EGC recently hired Andrew Wright, former Rep. Derek Kilmer’s (D-Wash.) chief of staff, as its first executive director.

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