ATLANTA, Ga. — Outgoing Gov. Brian Kemp said Wednesday he will not bring the General Assembly back early to redraw political districts or shrink the authority of the next governor after Democrats swept statewide offices on Tuesday.
In a prepared statement, Kemp said Georgians had delivered a clear verdict at the ballot box and that he would honor those results. He ruled out a special session aimed at cutting executive branch powers or reopening redistricting fights before he leaves office in January.
The decision ends weeks of speculation that Republicans might try a lame-duck remap. After a U.S. Supreme Court decision earlier this year narrowed Voting Rights Act protections, GOP leaders pressed for new congressional and legislative lines ahead of 2028. Kemp opened a summer special session that touched the issue, but no new maps were finished then. He has still said Georgia must adopt updated lines before the next cycle.
Budget work is the one exception he left open. Kemp said money problems may need attention before the regular session and that his budget office will keep tracking the state’s books and brief legislative partners.
In May, the Office of Planning and Budget warned that an income tax cut package approved this year punched roughly a $1.3 billion hole in state finances. Kemp later ordered about $300 million in spending reductions to cover part of that shortfall. An October State Accounting Office report showed rainy-day reserves near $8.7 billion, down from about $14.6 billion in January.
Kemp congratulated Gov.-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms and Sen. Jon Ossoff and thanked Republican nominee Rick Jackson along with other GOP candidates. Bottoms, speaking at a Wednesday news conference, said Kemp had flagged unspecified budget priorities and that any early session on those items would be his decision while he remains governor.
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