AP: “Reps. Lucy McBath and Carolyn Bourdeaux flipped two longtime Republican congressional districts in Atlanta’s northern suburbs by running against then-President Donald Trump and his divisive brand of politics.
But as they fight to keep their House seats this year, they’re competing against each other.
After new congressional maps approved by the Republican-controlled state Legislature made McBath’s district more conservative, she decided to compete for Bourdeaux’s seat. That’s pitting two colleagues from the same party against one another ahead of Georgia’s May 24 primary.
The race is an uncomfortable development for Democrats who would prefer to celebrate the inroads they’ve made in Georgia, culminating with Joe Biden becoming his party’s first presidential candidate to take the state in 28 years. Rather than building on that success, which was driven in part by support in Atlanta’s suburbs, the primary is pitting two of the party’s rising stars against each other.
Bourdeaux, who has referred to McBath as a “sister” and previously campaigned alongside her, said in a recent interview that she was “pretty shocked” by the primary challenge.
“If the shoe were on the other foot, it would not have crossed my mind in a million years to go over to the sixth (district) and run against her,” Bourdeaux said, lamenting that McBath was devoting resources to defeating her in the primary that could instead be directed at Republicans.”