ATLANTA, Ga. — Democratic U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath will head back to Washington for a fifth term after defeating Republican Kevin Martin on Tuesday in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, which takes in part of Atlanta.
Martin, the controller for the city of Smyrna, faced long odds. The district also stretches into parts of Cobb, Douglas, Fayette and Fulton counties. It leaned heavily Democratic in the 2024 election.
McBath, a former flight attendant, became a national voice for gun control after her 17-year-old son was shot and killed at a Jacksonville, Florida, gas station in 2012 by a man angered over loud music.
Her path in Congress has been shaped by repeated redistricting. She first won in 2018 in the 6th District, unseating Republican Karen Handel in a northern suburban seat once held by Newt Gingrich.
After Republicans redrew the maps following the 2020 census, McBath ran in the neighboring 7th District and beat fellow Democrat Carolyn Bourdeaux in a primary. A later court order, which found the votes of Black Georgians had been diluted, forced another round of new lines, and McBath moved back to the 6th, now drawn on the western side of the metro.
McBath had weighed a run for governor this cycle but dropped her exploratory bid last year. She cited her husband’s recovery from complications that followed a cancer operation, which she said needed her full attention.
The 6th is one of several metro Atlanta districts in the state’s House delegation. Results remain unofficial until counties certify them.
Section: More Atlanta GA politics news
Filed under: Atlanta GA Politics News
