Lucy McBath | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2019 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromGeorgia | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Karen Handel |
| Constituency |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | Lucia Kay Holman (1960-06-01)June 1, 1960 (age 65) Joliet, Illinois, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Ronald Davis (divorced) |
| Children | 2, includingJordan Davis |
| Education | Virginia State University (BA) |
| Website | House website Campaign website |
Lucia Kay McBath (néeHolman; born June 1, 1960) is an American politician who has served in theUnited States House of Representatives from a district in the suburbs ofAtlanta, Georgia, since 2019. She representedGeorgia's 6th congressional district from 2019 to 2023 and since 2025, and has represented the neighboring7th district from 2023 to 2025. McBath is a member of theDemocratic Party.
McBath's son, Jordan Davis,was murdered in November 2012. She then became an advocate forgun control, joining other mothers of black murder victims to form theMothers of the Movement, and spoke at the2016 Democratic National Convention.
McBath ran for the House of Representatives in2018, narrowly defeating Republican incumbentKaren Handel and defeating her again in2020. McBath switched to the7th district after redistricting in 2020 made the 6th significantly more favorable to Republicans; she defeated the 7th's incumbent,Carolyn Bourdeaux, in the Democratic primary and won the general election.[1]
McBath was born inJoliet, Illinois, on June 1, 1960.[2][3] Her father, Lucien Holman, was a dentist who ownedThe Black Voice, anAfrican-American newspaper, and served as president of theNAACP's Illinois chapter. Her mother, Wilma, is white and worked as a nurse. Lucy has a sister, Lori.[4]
McBath attendedVirginia State University and graduated with abachelor's degree inpolitical science in 1982.[5] After college, she worked as an intern for formerVirginia governorDouglas Wilder.[5] In the 1990s, she became a flight attendant forDelta Air Lines and relocated to Atlanta, where Delta is headquartered.[3]
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In 2012, McBath's 17-year-old son, Jordan Davis, was shot and killed following an argument at a gas station in Florida about loud music. The shooting and its aftermath received national attention, and prompted discussion about controversial self-defense laws, commonly known asstand-your-ground laws.[6] Her son's killer, Michael Dunn, was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.[7]
Following her son's death, McBath joinedMoms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America as a national spokeswoman. She attended a speech byPresidentBarack Obama on gun violence at theWhite House[8] and supported theMy Brother's Keeper Challenge.[9] McBath also joined the gun control advocacy groupMothers of the Movement, which consists of African American women whose children have been killed by gun violence.[10] McBath opposedcampus carry legislation in Florida.[11]
McBath campaigned actively forHillary Clinton in the2016 presidential election[10] and spoke on her behalf at the2016 Democratic National Convention.[12][13]
McBath created a foundation, Champion In The Making Legacy, to help high school graduates continue their education and training.[11]
McBath appeared in a 2015documentary film,3 1/2 Minutes, 10 Bullets, that explored her son's shooting.[14] She also appeared in the 2015 documentary filmThe Armor of Light, in whichRob Schenck, ananti-abortion Evangelical minister, discusses gun violence in America;The Armor of Light won anEmmy Award for Outstanding Social Issue Documentary.[15]
McBath credits her decision to run for office to a meeting withState RepresentativeRenitta Shannon, who urged her to run. Several other factors contributed to her decision, including theelection of Donald Trump and the undoing of previously enacted gun control measures.[16]
After initially planning to run for theGeorgia House of Representatives against incumbentRepublicanSam Teasley in 2018, she decided after theStoneman Douglas High School shooting to instead challengeKaren Handel, the incumbent Republican in theUnited States House of Representatives representingGeorgia's 6th congressional district.[3][8][17][18] The district, which was once represented byHouse SpeakerNewt Gingrich andSenatorJohnny Isakson, included many of Atlanta's northern suburbs, such asAlpharetta,Roswell,Johns Creek,Dunwoody,Sandy Springs,Brookhaven, and parts ofTucker andMarietta.
Although the 6th has historically tilted Republican, Handel was thought to be vulnerable. Trump barely carried the district in 2016. Handel defeatedJon Ossoff in a hotly contested 2017special election that remains the most expensive U.S. House race in American history.
In theDemocratic Partyprimary election on May 22, McBath led all challengers with 36% of the vote. She defeated Kevin Abel, the second-place finisher, in the July 24runoff election[19] with 53.7% of the vote.[20]
McBath faced Handel in the Novembergeneral election and declared victory with 159,268 votes, surpassing Handel's 156,396 with 100% of precincts reporting.[21][20] She became the first Democrat to represent this district since it moved to Atlanta's northern suburbs in 1993. Indeed, she was the first Democrat to garner even 40% of the vote in a general election for the district since Gingrich left office in 1999.[22] A number of reports described McBath as the first Democrat to represent this district since Gingrich won it in 1978.[23] But for his first seven terms, Gingrich represented a district that stretched across a swath of exurban and rural territory south and west of Atlanta;[24] he transferred to the reconfigured 6th after the 1990 census.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution called McBath's victory "the biggest Georgia Democratic upset of the 2018 midterms."[25]
McBath was discussed as a possible candidate in the2020 Georgia Senate special election.[26] According toThe Hill, Democrats considered her "one of the top potential contenders" for the seat. But she declined to run for the seat, instead seeking re-election to her house seat.[27]
McBath raised $620,000 in the fourth quarter of 2019. As of the end of 2019, she had $1.3 million cash on hand for her reelection bid. 93% of her contributions came from small-dollar donors.[28]
She won the November 3 general election with 54.6% of the vote in a rematch againstKaren Handel.[29] She got a significant boost fromJoe Biden carrying the district with 55% of the vote,[30] the first time a Democrat had carried the district at the presidential level since it moved to Atlanta's northern suburbs.
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In the 2021 redistricting session, McBath's district was significantly altered by the Republican-controlled state legislature. Its share of heavily DemocraticDeKalb County was cut out, replaced by conservative exurban counties such asForsyth andCherokee. The new configuration shifted the district from one that voted for Biden by double digits to one that voted for Trump by double digits, likely securing the seat for Republicans in the 2022 elections. Reports speculated that McBath could run in another district.
In November 2021, McBath announced that she would run for reelection in the7th district, held by fellow DemocratCarolyn Bourdeaux. It had previously been based inGwinnett County, but had been pushed slightly westward to absorb the more Democratic portions of McBath's former territory inFulton County, making it significantly bluer than its predecessor. McBath defeated Bordeaux in the Democratic primary.[31]
McBath cosponsored the Honoring American Veterans in Extreme Need ("HAVEN") Act, which gives disabled veterans bankruptcy protections.[32]
McBath co-sponsored legislation to extendPell Grant eligibility to college students if their school closed or if school officials committed institutional fraud or misconduct.[33]
Before theTrump–Ukraine scandal, McBath had been cautious about impeaching PresidentDonald Trump, or opposed it outright. For instance, in the aftermath of theMueller investigation, she was one of 137 Democrats to vote to kill an impeachment resolution.[34] In October 2019, McBath voted in favor of launching animpeachment inquiry into Trump.[35]
She sat on theHouse Judiciary Committee, which was tasked with handling some impeachment-related business. During a town hall event, she said she had felt "furious" about "the lack of accountability" from the Trump administration, due to what she called a lack of responsiveness to congressional subpoenas. At the same event, she said, "I don't like having to [participate in the impeachment process]. ... I don't want to have to say this about our President of the United States and the White House."[36] In December 2019, she voted for articles of impeachment against Trump on the House Judiciary Committee.[37]
For the119th Congress:[38]
McBath supportsabortion rights. She has said she supports funding programs that give women "autonomy over their reproductive decisions".[43]
McBath has stated support for "incremental measures to shore up" theAffordable Care Act (Obamacare). She stated that she favors that approach over transitioning to aMedicare for All system.[44]
McBath supportsMedicaid expansion in Georgia, and would lower the age ofMedicare eligibility to 55.[43]
McBath has said she is critical of some of the2017 Republican tax cuts, but would like to make the temporary middle-class tax cuts permanent.[43]
McBath voted for the Raise the Wage Act, which would increase thefederal minimum wage to $15 per hour. Before voting for the bill, the centrist New Democrat coalition (of which McBath is a part) secured some changes: a longer timeline to phase in the wage increases, and provisions that would pause wage increases if a federal study shows adverse economic impacts.[45]
McBath initially decided to run for Congress because she believed the government was not doing enough to prevent gun violence. She supports universal background checks before purchasing a firearm, as well asred flag laws to keep guns out of the hands of people at risk of violence.[43]
During the 2018 election, McBath vowed to respectSecond Amendment rights. She also promised to push for "implementing background checks for all firearm purchases; raising the minimum age to purchase a gun to 21 years of age; working to defeat conceal carry reciprocity measures; and introducing legislation to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers and other criminals."[46]
McBath opposes abolishing theImmigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE).[44]
In 2025, McBath was one of 46 House Democrats who joined all Republicans to vote for theLaken Riley Act.[47]
McBath grew up in a military family; her father, brother, nephew and cousin all served in theU.S. military in some capacity.[48] McBath has hadbreast cancer twice.[49] She is married to Curtis McBath.[50] They live inMarietta, Georgia.
In 1993, McBath was rushed to the emergency room while pregnant with her first son, Lucien. She suffered afetal demise and was admitted to the hospital to deliver Lucien naturally. A year later, she was pregnant again and gave birth to her son Jordan.[51] McBath is aChristian and named her son after theRiver Jordan in theBible.[52]
McBath lives in Marietta, and continued to live there after shifting to the 7th even though that district doesn't include any portion ofCobb County. However, members of the House are only required to live in the state they represent. She is a longtime member of Eagles Nest Church in Roswell.[citation needed]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Lucy McBath | 15,138 | 36.27 | |
| Democratic | Kevin Abel | 12,747 | 30.54 | |
| Democratic | Bobby Kaple | 10,956 | 26.25 | |
| Democratic | Steven Griffin | 2,901 | 6.95 | |
| Total votes | 41,742 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Lucy McBath | 14,285 | 53.73 | |
| Democratic | Kevin Abel | 12,303 | 46.27 | |
| Total votes | 26,588 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Lucy McBath | 160,139 | 50.51 | |
| Republican | Karen Handel (incumbent) | 156,875 | 49.49 | |
| Total votes | 317,014 | 100.0 | ||
| Democraticgain fromRepublican | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Lucy McBath (incumbent) | 216,775 | 54.59 | |
| Republican | Karen Handel | 180,329 | 45.41 | |
| Total votes | 397,104 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Lucy McBath (incumbent) | 33,607 | 63.09 | |
| Democratic | Carolyn Bourdeaux (incumbent) | 16,310 | 30.62 | |
| Democratic | Donna McLeod | 3,352 | 6.29 | |
| Total votes | 53,269 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Lucy McBath (incumbent) | 143,063 | 61.05 | |
| Republican | Mark Gonsalves | 91,262 | 38.95 | |
| Total votes | 234,325 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Lucy McBath (incumbent) | 277,027 | 74.68 | |
| Republican | Jeff Criswell | 93,909 | 25.32 | |
| Total votes | 370,936 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromGeorgia's 6th congressional district 2019–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromGeorgia's 7th congressional district 2023–2025 | |
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromGeorgia's 6th congressional district 2025-present | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 216th | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
