In an effort to take over Congress, Republicans are looking to redraw the maps of two key Georgia suburban districts that were once solid GOP territory and the political base for then-U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

If successful, Republican redistricting efforts this fall could help reverse recent gains by Democrats who flipped the seats in north metro Atlanta through the election of Lucy McBath in 2018 and Carolyn Bourdeaux in 2020.

The GOP sees redistricting as an opportunity to regain an advantage after Democrats won over an electorate that became more diverse with Black, Asian and Latino voters over the past 10 years. Georgia Republicans have control over redistricting in the General Assembly, where their majority gives them the power to create maps that add more conservative voters and shrink the number of liberals.

https://www.ajc.com/politics/path-to-republican-us-house-majority-boosted-by-georgia-redistricting/ELVWVNOXMZEOFO5AZ34ACGATRE/?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaign_2866222

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Defense attorneys for the men charged with killing Ahmaud Arbery won’t be allowed to present evidence of the slain Black man’s past legal problems when their clients stand trial for murder, a Georgia judge ruled.

Gregory and Travis McMichael, a father and son, and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan Jr. are awaiting trial this fall for chasing and killing 25-year-old Arbery last year as he ran in their neighborhood outside coastal Brunswick. Jury selection is scheduled to start Oct. 18.

Attorneys for the McMichaels wanted the jury to hear about Arbery’s past run-ins with law enforcement, including two arrests, to cast doubt on prosecutors’ contention that he was merely an innocent jogger. Defense attorneys say the white men reasonably suspected Arbery had committed a crime when they began the pursuit that ended in his death.

Prosecutors argued that defense lawyers were seeking to put Arbery on trial by making his criminal record and other prior problems part of the case. None of the three defendants knew Arbery, or anything about his past, prior to the shooting. Prosecutors said his past was irrelevant to their decision to arm themselves and ultimately shoot a man who was trying to run away