Wall Street Journal: “When Republicans were carving up the state into congressional districts a decade ago, Lynn Westmoreland saw the warning signs for his party in the Atlanta suburbs. Republicans in the state legislature thought they could stave off any Democratic gains in suburban areas by balancing them out with small pockets of outlying, staunchly conservative precincts in the Sixth and Seventh districts, the former GOP congressman said. He told lawmakers that if demographic trends favoring Democrats accelerated, ‘those little slivers weren’t enough to carry the district.’ He was right. After years of Republican dominance, Democrats now hold the Sixth and Seventh House districts in the Atlanta suburbs, and the GOP’s advantage in the state’s congressional delegation has fallen from 10-4 to 8-6. State officials and lawmakers across the country are preparing to redraw congressional districts this fall based on new population totals from the 2020 census. Republicans, who have greater control over the process because they hold majorities in more states with partisan redistricting processes, are grappling with how to approach once-reliably conservative suburbs that have more recently swung toward Democrats.”

“The redrawing of the congressional map is expected to be a key factor in whether the GOP can retake the House in 2022, when the changes will take effect. The process is complicated by the fact that the last election, which typically offers clues to the direction of the electorate, took place under the unusual circumstances of a pandemic with former President Donald Trump, a polarizing figure, atop the ticket. Those redrawing the districts must decide whether the results were an aberration – despite losing the White House and control of the Senate, many Republicans were heartened by the narrowing of the Democratic majority in the House – or should guide maps for the next decade. To balance out that suburban growth, Republicans will look to create districts where their candidates are heavy favorites even if it means drawing some safe Democratic seats in the process. That sorting will likely mean more districts where members see little incentive to buck their respective parties.”