Republican Vies For Hispanic-Rich Congressional District Outside Atlanta

Redistricting following the 2020 census turned Congressional maps upside down across the country. In Georgia, that included pitting two incumbent Democrats, Carolyn Bourdeaux and Lucy McBath, against each other. McBath won the primary in the new 7th Congressional District, despite it mainly being Bourdeaux’s turf.

In the general election, McBath now faces Republican Mark Gonsalves. The district—in which previous races have been close; Bordeaux defeated Republican Rich McCormick by about 3 percent in 2020, and Republican Rob Woodall only defeated Bourdeaux by a few hundred votes in 2018—now clearly favors Democrats, according to the polls.

But Gonsalves says he’s closing the gap and resonating with voters.

The district centers on Gwinnett County, northeast of the city of Atlanta. That county is home to many Hispanics and Asians, making it unique in the Atlanta metro area. Politics here goes beyond Georgia’s typical story of black and white.

House Judiciary Committee member Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) (C) votes for the first of two articles of impeachment against U.S. President Donald Trump during the final moments of a hearing in the Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 13, 2019. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Pollsters have McBath up comfortably and don’t tend to list this as a competitive House race. Gonsalves says Cook’s Political Report listed McBath initially ahead by 16 percent. That lead, though, has recently shrunk to 10 percent, and in early July was as close as 8 percent.

Gonsalves is buoyed, though, by his own polling. When voters are told his policy positions, and with no attacks on McBath, the Republican said his surveys indicate that he leads 45–44, with 11 percent undecided.

The Ethnic Vote

Gonsalves said the district is 20 percent Hispanic, 21 percent African-American, 41 percent white, and 15 percent Asian. “It’s one of the

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