Redistricting in Georgia after the 2010 census

Note: Redistricting takes place every 10 years after completion of the United States Census. The information here pertains to the 2010 redistricting process. For information on more recent redistricting developments, see this article.

Redistricting in Georgia

General information

Partisan control: Republican

Process: Legislative Committee

Deadline: None

Total seats

Congress: 14

State Senate: 56

State House: 180

This article details the timeline of redistricting events in Georgia following the 2010 census. It also provides contextual information about the redistricting process and census information.

Georgia gained one U.S. House seat from the reapportionment after the 2010 census. The state population grew to over 9.7 million residents, an increase of 18.3 percent.

Process

See also: State-by-state redistricting procedures

During the 2010 redistricting cycle, the Georgia General Assembly was responsible for redistricting. In the House, the task fell to the Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Committee. In the State Senate, it fell to the Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee. Georgia was 1 of 16 states that needed approval from the U.S. Justice Department due to the Voting Rights Act.

The Georgia Constitution provided authority to the General Assembly in Section II, Paragraph II of Article III.

Control of committee appointments

In late January 2011, several lawmakers attempted to shift control of membership on the Administrative Affairs Committee away from Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle (R) and give it to President pro tem Tommie Williams (R). The move would have given Williams greater control over the redistricting committees. Although Williams and Cagle share partisan interests, Cagle and House Speaker David Ralston (R) were both from northern Georgia, raising concerns about fair representation for the southern portion of the state.

Cagle blocked the measure by refusing to call it to a vote. A compromise bill was ultimately passed that gave Williams the chairmanship of Administrative Affairs, but allowed Cagle to appoint the majority of its members. In addition, the bill contained the following clause:

By agreement with the appropriate officer or officers of the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate may authorize the establishment and employment of staff for newly created joint offices of the General Assembly.

Under the rule, Cagle and Ralston would jointly control membership of the redistricting committees.

New office created

On February 1, 2011, Republican leaders announced the creation of a Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office. Redistricting was previously done through a state contract with the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Government. The new office employed many of the same people who worked on redistricting at the Carl Vinson Institute. Republican counsel Ann Lewis and her law firm provided legal guidance for the office.

House Democratic leader Stacey Abrams said, "That they did not include Democrats in this decision raises some serious questions about transparency and accountability." Senate Democratic Leader Robert Brown said he was surprised by the news, and that "It's obviously not nonpartisan. I don't know what this is. I've heard rumor after rumor about redistricting. We're not a part of this process."

The Senate Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee held its first meeting of the year on April 13. During the meeting Sen. Vincent Fort (D) raised questions about Dan O'Connor, an office aide, whose background was not made public. Fort stated, “Mr. O’Connor is either being paid now or will be paid by public dollars. I don’t want to know what he had for lunch and I don’t want to know what his favorite football team is. All I want to know what his public functions have been prior to his being hired.” The new office was slated to begin drawing new maps on April 15.

Calls for a second new office

On February 7, 2011, Sen. Horacena Tate, Chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus Reapportionment Committee, sent a letter to House Speaker David Ralston and Senate President Pro Tempore Tommie Williams regarding Democrats' concerns. In it she called for a second reapportionment office, stating, "In order to ensure that the reapportionment process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all Georgians, I ask that you establish and provide commensurate funding for a separate reapportionment office to provide the necessary consulting, legal and other services for the senators in the minority party."

Tate received a letter on February 9, signed by Williams and Ralston, which rejected her request for a second office. The letter referred to the issue as a misunderstanding and said that the new office would serve all members of the General Assembly. Georgia Congressman Jack Kingston (R) referred to the Democrats' complaints as sour grapes, saying, "You might tilt your side here or there to protect an incumbent or two, but I think the Democrats are being a bit premature."

Leadership

Senate

The partisan breakdown for the Senate Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee was 12 Republicans to 4 Democrats. Membership was as follows:

Republicans (12) Mitch Seabaugh Chair Bill Cowsert Vice Chair Charlie Bethel Secretary Don Balfour Ronnie Chance William Jackson Chip Rogers David Shafer Cecil Staton Ross Tolleson Tommie Williams Judson Hill Ex-Officio

Democrats (4) Robert Brown Vincent Fort Ed Harbison Steve Henson

House

The partisan breakdown of the House Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Committee was 14 Republicans to 8 Democrats. Membership was as follows:

Republicans (14)

• Roger Lane Chair
• Matthew Ramsey Vice Chair
• Doug McKillip Secretary
• Bobby Franklin
• Ed Rynders
• Matt Dollar
• Lynn Smith
• Richard H. Smith
• Tom Dickson
• Jan Jones
• Sean Jerguson
• Willie Talton
• Ellis Black
• John Yates

Democrats (8)

• Edward Stephens
• Henry Howard
• Rahn Mayo
• Helen Hudson
• Sharon Beasley-Teague
• Barbara Reece
• Bob Bryant
• Mack Jackson

Public Meetings

According to Sen. Charlie Bethel, the Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Committees were to hold several joint public hearings across the state. The first meeting was held on May 16 in Athens. The twelfth and final meeting was held on June 30. Video of the hearings can be found here.

Legislative committees adopt principles

On July 20, the House and Senate committees tasked with drafting Georgia's new political maps adopted several principles to guide the redistricting process. The House committee adopted the principles unanimously; the Senate committee adopted the principles along party lines, 8-3. The principles were as follows:

• All full and formal committee meetings would be open to the public.

• Documents/maps would only become public when presented to the joint committee.

• Maps would comply with the Voting Rights Act.

Census results

On March 16, 2011, the Census Bureau shipped Georgia's local census data to the governor and legislative leaders. This data guided redistricting for state and local offices. The data is publicly available for download.

Under the new figures, state Senate districts were to contain approximately 173,000 people and House districts approximately 54,000.

Given shifts in population, southwest Georgia was predicted to lose at least four House seats and two Senate seats.

City/County population changes

These tables show the change in population in the five largest incorporated places and counties in Georgia from 2000-2010.

Top Five most populous cities Incorporated place 2000 Population 2010 Population Percent change Atlanta city 416,474 420,003 0.8% Augusta-Richmond County consolidated government 199,775 200,549 0.4% Columbus city 186,291 189,885 1.9% Savannah city 131,510 136,286 3.6% Athens-Clarke County unified government 101,489 116,714 15.0%

Top Five most populous counties County 2000 Population 2010 Population Percent change Fulton 816,006 920,581 12.8% Gwinnett 588,448 805,321 36.9% DeKalb 665,865 691,893 3.9% Cobb 607,751 688,078 13.2% Chatham 232,048 265,128 14.3%

Congressional redistricting

Following the 2010 elections, Republicans held eight of Georgia's 13 congressional seats. Three of the five Democratic districts were in the Atlanta area and seen as safe seats for Democrats. The remaining two districts, held by U.S. Reps. John Barrow and Sanford Bishop, were thought to be likely targets for Republican redistricting efforts.

Figure 1: This map shows Georgia's Congressional Districts after the 2000 census.

University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock predicted a possible population swap between Districts 8 and 2, represented by Austin Scott (R) and Sanford Bishop (D), in order to increase the likelihood of re-election for both incumbents.

Atlanta Progressive News predicted that the new 14th Congressional District would likely be in the northern area of Atlanta and dominated by Republicans. Speculation suggested that the district would be drawn in the Gainesville area, northeast of Atlanta. Gainesville grew by 25% in the 2000s.

August 2011: Congressional maps released

On August 22, 2011, Republican leadership released their proposed Congressional redistricting map. Due to population growth, Georgia garnered a 14th Congressional district following the 2010 census. The new district, according to the plan, was be located in the northwestern part of the state. U.S. Rep. Tom Graves (R) was drawn into the new district, leaving his 9th District seat open in 2012. The new 9th District leaned Republican. In addition, the plan displaced Rep. John Barrow (D), but Barrow (who had been displaced before) planned to move in order to remain in the 12th District. Rep. Sanford Bishop's (D) district became a majority-minority district. Rep. Phil Gingrey's (R) 11th District picked up part of Atlanta. The Atlanta Journal-Consituttion expected the plan to bolster the Republican majority in the state's Congressional delegation.

Rep. John Lewis said, "The city of Atlanta should remain whole, and attempts to split the city are nothing more than naked partisanship." Barrow, displaced under the plan, argued that "the folks in Atlanta have put politics above the interests of the people I represent." Kelli Persons, Program Manager for the Georgia League of Women Voters, contended that legislators largely disregarded the public input given at redistricting meetings.

Georgia Redistricting: Proposed Congressional Plan
Proposed Congressional Plan Existing Congressional Plan

August 2011: House amends, approves plan

On August 25, 2011, the Georgia House of Representatives approved the redistricting proposal (HB 20EX), 110-60 along party lines. The plan was amended to keep a bigger portion of Fayette County within the 3rd District. As a consequence, portions of Henry and Muscogee Counties were shifted out of the 3rd. The 1st District also gained Moody Air Force Base, resulting in shifts in the 9th and 12th Districts. The plan moved to the State Senate, where it was expected to be approved without amendment.

Georgia Redistricting: House-Approved Congressional Plan
Proposed Congressional plan Proposed Congressional plan, amended

August 2011: Senate approves plan

On August 31, 2011, the Georgia State Senate approved the state's Congressional maps (HB 20EX), 34-21 along party lines. The plan then moved to Governor Nathan Deal (R). The state was expected to submit the plan to the DOJ for pre-approval by October 1, 2011.

September 2011: Deal signs maps

On September 7, 2011, Gov. Nathan Deal (R) signed Georgia's Congressional redistricting maps. Upon signing the maps, Deal said, "The Legislature has drawn districts that are compact, that keep communities of interest together and that visually make sense. Additionally, these maps honor the guidelines we must follow under federal law." The Governor's press release on the signing can be found here.

October 2011: Plans submitted for approval, challenges VRA

On October 6, 2011, Georgia officials filed the state’s redistricting plans with the federal government for approval under the Voting Rights Act (VRA). The VRA permits states to pursue approval with either the Department of Justice or the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Georgia officials opted to pursue both options with the intent of dropping the legal action if the DOJ approved the plans. North Carolina and Texas were among the other states that took this approach.

As part of its suit for approval in the D.C. District Court, Georgia challenged the part of the Voting Rights Act that requires states with a history of discrimination to get new maps and election laws pre-cleared by the Department of Justice or the District Court. Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens argued that the state was being unfairly targeted based on discrimination that no longer existed. House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams (D) argued that electoral discrimination was still a problem in the state. Georgia joined Alabama and Louisiana in challenging the statute.

February 2012: House approves revisions

Georgia representatives approved revisions to the state's legislative redistricting plan. The intent of the revisions was to reorganize districts in Hall County. At the time, the county was divided among seven House districts -- reduced to four under the revised plan. Democrats objected to re-opening the redistricting process (which would have required DOJ approval of the revisions) and some Republicans asked for other changes to be made. The modifications passed the House on February 3 by 101-53 margin.

Legislative redistricting

August 2011: Plan released

On August 12, 2011, Republicans released their legislative redistricting plans, redrawing the state's House and Senate districts. However, the proposal received pushback from the state's Democratic minority. House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams declared that the state party would mount a 2012 primary challenge against any Democratic legislator that broke ranks to support the plan. According to Abrams, the Republican plan was an attempt to purge white Democrats by creating seven additional Voting Rights Act districts. She noted that six of the 12 Democratic representatives paired under the plan were white. In addition, the Senate plan also paired two incumbent Democrats, one black and one white.

With respect to redistricting, the VRA was designed to ensure that minority voters are not spread across white districts and are able to elect candidates of their choice. However, Abrams and others argued that the plan was an attempt to concentrate Democratic voters and lessen their wider influence.

Republicans defended the House plan, saying that it also paired eight Republican incumbents. In addition, they argued that map was less partisan than the Democratically drawn 2001 plans that paired many more incumbents. The 2001 map introduced multi-member districts that were ultimately reversed after a multiple years (see History below).

Georgia Redistricting: Legislative Redistricting Plans
House plan Senate plan

August 2011: Plans clear legislative committees

On August 16, 2011, legislative redistricting plans cleared the House and Senate redistricting committees. Both passed along party lines. Democrats submitted a substitute proposal intended to pair fewer incumbents, but it was rejected. The full House and Senate considered the plans on August 18. In the House, 90 minutes were allotted to each side to debate the map. Floor amendments were not permitted. Each side was to pass its own plan then send it to the other chamber for concurrence.

• The Senate legislation is Senate Bill 1EX.

• The House legislation is House Bill 1EX.

August 2011: House, Senate pass legislative plans

On August 18, the Georgia House of Representatives and the Georgia State Senate approved their respective redistricting plans. The plans then proceeded to opposite chambers for concurrence.

On August 23, both chambers concurred with the opposite chamber's redistricting plans. The Senate voted 36-16 to approve the House plan, and the House voted 104-56 to approve the Senate plan. The bills then moved to Gov. Nathan Deal for his signature.

August 2011: Deal signs maps

On August 24, 2011, Deal signed Georgia's legislative redistricting maps. Upon signing the maps, he said, "Georgians can be proud of what their legislators produced in these new maps." The Governor's press release on the signing can be found here.

October 2011: Plans submitted for approval

On October 6, 2011, Georgia officials filed the state’s redistricting plans with the federal government for approval under the Voting Rights Act. The VRA permits states to pursue approval with either the Department of Justice or the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Georgia officials opted to pursue both options with the intent of dropping the legal action if the DOJ approved the plans. North Carolina and Texas were among the other states also taking this approach.

December 2011: Groups oppose approval

Georgia's Legislative Black Caucus and a coalition of other organizations asked the United States District Court for the District of Columbia to reject the state's redistricting plans. Under the Voting Rights Act, states that require DOJ approval for redistricting plans may alternatively seek that approval in the DC District Court. Georgia submitted its plans using both avenues. However, in its District Court case, Georgia also asked to be released from the VRA's pre-approval requirements. Opponents of the new redistricting plans argued that they diluted the power of black voters by packing them into minority-majority districts.

December 2011: DOJ pre-approves maps

On December 23, 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice gave pre-approval to Georgia's redistricting plan under the Voting Rights Act. This was the first time in Georgia history that all of the state's maps -- House, Senate, and US Congress--were approved upon first review. However, state Democrats said that past DOJ approvals did not stop revisions by the courts and that the party was considering legal action.

Legal issues

February 2011: Dekalb County schools lawsuit

Under a redistricting plan -- proposed by interim Superintendent Ramona Tyson on February 7, 2011 -- Dekalb County would close eight schools, impacting nearly 9,000 students at a savings of $12.4 million a year. The original plan called for closing 14 schools but was scaled back. The plan was an attempt to deal with 11,300 empty seats in county schools in order to generate more state funding. The revised plan eliminates 5,125 of those seats, leaving 6,185.

Full information is available on the Dekalb County Schools website.

On March 7, 2011 the school board adopted Tyson's plan by a vote of 7-2 in favor. Of the eight schools to close, six would be decommissioned with two being put on inactive status, which allows the board to reopen them if they see fit. A number of citizens were critical of the plan, with one parent, Tasha Walker, filing a lawsuit seeking an immediate injunction against the decision of the board.

Prior to the vote, a group of Dekalb County parents hired attorney Lee Parks to represent them if the board voted to redraw attendance lines separating Vanderlyn and Austin Elementary schools. Parks stated the issue, "When you peel back the curtain, it’s creating two white schools. I think the new board member, Ms. Jester, thinks that’s some sort of political mandate that she got when she was elected.”

Parks and the parents alleged that Jester intended to segregate the schools, saying that only children in single-family homes would be able to attend the better schools under the plan. Jester denied the accusations, saying that she provided input on the plan but only considered geography and school capacity, not race, socioeconomic status or housing.

March 2011: New cities and minority voting power

Following the release of 2010 census data, the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus filed a lawsuit on March 28, 2011, seeking the dissolution of five cities in Dekalb and Fulton counties. The suit against the state alleged that normal procedures were circumvented in order to create cities with white super-majorities, which diluted minority votes and violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the U.S. Constitution. Civil Rights Movement veteran Rev. Joseph Lowery also joined the lawsuit. On June 10, the Georgia Attorney General's Office filed a motion to have the lawsuit dismissed, arguing that the formation of the cities "does not diminish anyone’s existing right to vote and did not violate the Voting Rights Act."

Population figures

2010 census figures showed Fulton County was 44.5% white and 44.1% black, while DeKalb County was about 54% black and 33.3% white. The cities that the suit sought to dissolve, all created since 2005, showed the following ratios:

City	Year formed	% white in 2010	% black in 2010
Sandy Springs	2005	65%	20%
Milton	2006	76.6%	9%
Johns Creek	2006	63.5%	9.2%
Chattahoochee Hills	2007	68.6%	20%
Dunwoody	2008	69.8%	12%

History

In the history of Georgia redistricting, the state has faced two key challenges. The first was Georgia's transition from districts based on geography to districts based on population. The second was the political struggle to ensure equal voting power for minorities. From 1961 to 1974, the legislature enacted 17 major reapportionment plans in order to rectify both of these issues.

Districts based on geography came from provisions of the 1877 state Constitution, as amended in 1920. At this time, the Constitution provided representation to the state House based on county size - the 8 largest counties had three representatives, the next 30 largest had two, and the rest one. Despite the fact that the number of districts increased, the formula remained the same.

Following the 1970 census, the legislature contracted with the University of Georgia to set up a team known as the Legislative Reapportionment Service Unit to process the data, removing the technical aspect from lawmakers. This team became known as the Legislative Reapportionment Services Office at the Carl Vinson Institute of Government and was used until 2011 when a Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office was created.

2001 redistricting

Gov. Roy E. Barnes, called two special sessions, one for Congressional seats and one for legislative seats.

Georgia had a Democratic governor and narrow Democratic margins in both legislative chambers, but the Congressional delegation was majority Republican. Gaining two seats with a Democratic trifecta, albeit a soft one, was seen by national Democrats as am opportunity to ensure two new seats would go blue and weaken the Republican hold on Georgia's existing districts.

August 2011: Special sessions

Barnes scheduled the special session to meet back-to-back beginning August 1, 2001. Ahead of that, legislative reapportionment committee members met throughout the summer, producing two maps. The Democrats had introduced multimember districts. The plan passed on a 29-26 Senate vote.

The next week, House Democrats produced their map, which contained four multimember districts. The map passed out of the subcommittee and won the approval of the full chamber 102-74.

August 2011: Conference Committee

On August 21, 2001, Gov. Barnes ordered the legislature to redraw both the House and Senate maps. September opened with competing House and Senate redistricting plans set to go before a conference committee with three members of each chamber.

In the end, conference committees couldn't hammer out the details. The Senate adjourned on September 21, 2001, while the House voted to reconvene the following week. Lawmakers managed to pass a redistricting bill, 99-59 in the House and 30-23 in the Senate, on September 28.

January 2002: U.S. District Court lawsuit

Republicans sued and the case went before the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. at the end of January 2002. Originally, only state Senate districts were disputed, but the Republican Party won a pre-trial victory when U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan agreed to allow all three maps to be argued. In doing this, Georgia became the first state to seek pre-clearance through the Federal courts, rather than through the Justice Department. Court rulings are usually only sought in connection to the Voting Rights Act when the Justice Department has already seen and rejected a plan. However, as Georgia's map was argued in court, the Justice Department did have the same maps for review, and a timely approval promised to speed up the trial.

In early April, the Court rejected the Senate map; legislators turned out a new one, which did win court approval, in five days. Barnes indicated he would sign off on the new Senate bill, along with the House and Congressional bills, clearing the way for the map to go back to the Federal judges to be assessed against the requirements of the Voting Rights Act.

Those maps got Georgia through the 2002 elections, but a new lawsuit in January 2003 sought to overturn the original court ruling and reinstate the first set of Senate boundaries. The midterms had given Republicans control of the state Senate and their case, accepted by the U.S. Supreme Court, charged that the previous Democratic Senate had created supermajority black seats - districts where minorities were given not an equal chance to win but unassailable domination - something that they alleged was in violation of the Voting Rights Act.

March 2004: New Senate maps approved

At the end of October 2003, Perdue announced redistricting would be on the 2004 legislative agenda. Georgia Republicans brought a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court arguing that the 2001 map drew uneven districts that violated the one man, one vote principle. On February 10, 2004, the Courts threw out the 2001 maps and ordered new ones completed by March 1, 2004. Lawmakers missed the March 1st deadline and redistricting was taken over by a court-appointed committee. Within two weeks, the committee produced a set of redistricting maps, which won Federal approval at the end of March.

Deviation from Ideal Districts

2000 Population Deviation
Office		Percentage
Congressional Districts		0.01%
State House Districts		1.96%
State Senate Districts		1.94%
Under federal law, districts may vary from an Ideal District by up to 10%, though the lowest number achievable is preferred. Ideal Districts are computed through simple division of the number of seats for any office into the population at the time of the Census.

Lawsuits related to the 2000 Census

There were three lawsuits, not counting appeals, related to the Georgia 2000 census redistricting process.

• Georgia v. Ashcroft, No. 01-2111, 195 F.Supp.2d 25 (D. D.C. Apr. 5, 2002) : The State of Georgia brought a declaratory judgment action in district court for the District of Columbia, seeking preclearance of its legislative and congressional plans. The court granted preclearance of the congressional and state House of Representatives plans, but denied preclearance of the Senate plan.

• Larios v. Cox, No. 1:03-CV-693-CAP, 300 F. Supp.2d 1320 (N.D. Ga. Feb. 10, 2004), aff’d 542 U.S. 947 (June 30, 2004) ( No. 03-1413) (mem.) : Plaintiffs challenged the 2001 congressional and House plans and the 2001 and 2002 Senate plans enacted by the Georgia General Assembly on various grounds. A Federal District Court upheld the congressional plan but struck down the legislative plans for violating the Equal Protection Clause. The court gave the General Assembly a deadline of March 1, 2004, to submit new plans. After the General Assembly failed to meet the deadline the court appointed a Special Master to draw them. The districts drawn up by the Special Master were approved by the court on April 15.

• Kidd v. Cox, No. 1:06-CV-0997-BBM, 2006 WL 1341302, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29689 (N.D. Ga. May 16, 2006) (three-judge court) : A claim was brought that three of the Senate districts violated the one person, one vote principle. The court dismissed the case, stating that “population deviations of less than ten percent ‘are presumptively constitutional, and the burden lies on the plaintiffs to rebut that presumption’”

See also

• State Legislative and Congressional Redistricting after the 2010 Census
• State-by-state redistricting procedures

External links

• Georgia General Assembly Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Website
• Georgia House of Representatives - Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Committee
• Georgia State Senate - Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee