Georgia New Congressional Map: Barrow on the move.....AGAIN??? Bishop a lock! Scott more safer?

Today the New Georgia Congressional Map is out & with no surprise, Conservative Democrat John Barrow (D-Savannah) is on the move once again. Hos home of Chatham County is now occupied by Jack Kingston (R-Savannah). New counties in Barrow's district are Laurens, Coffee, Appling, Jeff Davis, Telfair, Wheeler, & republican south Columbia County.

Other Bluedog Sanford Bishop is made safer with the removal of Thomas County from his district. He now has Bibb County & much more of Muscogee County (Columbus) going into midtown Columbus.

Freshman Austin Scott is made safer by the removal of democratic Bibb County, but he has republican North Bibb County in the district. He takes in much of Kingston's western half of the district of Lowndes, Clinch, Lanier, Cook, Berrien, Atkinson, Echols, & he takes democratic Brooks County from Sanford Bishop.

Arch Conservative Paul Broun of Athens now has a much more competitive district for democrats to contend with. He takes Barrow & Walton Counties from Rob Woodall of the 7th CD, & he takes John Barrow democratic areas of Hancock, Baldwin, Taliaferro, Johnson, Warren, republican lean Glascock, Jefferson, Washington (Dem leaning counties) & Takes old portions of 8th CD Jasper, Butts, Newton & eastern Henry County.

The new 14th CD now hovers over NE Georgia, with Hall County the anchor county

Tom Price 6th CD now occupies Bartow County & snakes into north central Fulton County.

The other Districts are pratically the same Tom Graves now takes Floyd, Polk & Haralson Counties, as well as Paulding County.

What to make of this?

This opens the door for State Senator Tommie Williams (R-Lyons) to run for this seat. Based on the proposed district, it was drawn specifically for him. Greg Morris, (R-Vidalia), a former democrat who switched in 2006 could also be another possibility.

Bishop is less likely to received a challenge from a republican, but given the mrgin he won, its like he will receive another challenge.

Austin Scott must be happy camper right now. With Thomas County now included, the 8th appears to be much safer for him, but who knows? Although North Bibb is republican, there are democrats up there as well & could get a challenge from that portion of the county. Or it could come from Houston County or down somewhere in South Georgia.

Paul Broun is in a totally new district! If this stands, former Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond would be the ideal candidate to run in this district. Its much more friendly for democrats.

The 12th & 10th CD in my opinion are tossup districts because they have been so altered by the ruling Georgia GOP.

Counties, Communities, Cities Get Cut, Chopped & Chewed Up in Georgia GOP's Redistricting Efforts

In the proposed redistricting Maps put out by Georgia's GOP ruling majority, Counties, Cities & Communities get chopped, cut, chewed, & divided in the GOP efforts to maximize their already majority status & weakened democrats even more. Democrats did the same thing back in 2001 when they held control of the state & the GOP howled in protest over those hideous maps

That was then.......

And now the same party who protested the maps then are now doing the exact same thing, just take a look at the House Map:

Everything from Cracking, Packing, Gerrymandering, Retrogression has been done to the house districts, especially down in Rural Georgia. Counties such as Lowndes are divided up into 4 House Districts, Ware into 3 House Districts, Thomas, 3 House Districts, Houston, 5 House Districts, Laurens, 3 House Districts, etc, etc. Now supporters of the map are saying that this was necessary to achieve the required 53,000 needed for each district.

Maybe!

In some cases its true, but in others its not. Of the two maps, the house maps will be under severe scrutiny when it goes to court for passage. I say its a 60/40 chance it gets approval from the courts.

In the proposed Senate Map, take a close look at SD 14.....WELL ITS GONE! George Hooks (D-Americus) home of Sumter County has broken up leaving him in a district with Freddie Sims (D-Dawson. Gone are the City of Andersonville (located) in Sumter Co now located in......John Crosby State Senate District! The Andersonville National Historic Site is located in Macon County. The two should be represented by the same individual. Dooly Co & Sumter Co share the same interest & are being separated in the GOP's attempt to oust Senator Hooks because.......he is the only remaining white conservative democrat left in the state senate, or it may have something to do with that little episode back in April when there was a attempt by Hooks to have powers restored to Lt. Governor Casey Cagle which was stripped by the GOP Caucus.

Robert Brown's Old Senate District 26 which was a majority minority district already is now a super blue district with the inclusion of Hancock & Washington Counties to increase republican advantage of SD 25 (Johnny Grant) & SD 23 Jesse Stone, who's district is now a tossup with the removal of Washington & the inclusion of McDuffie & Warren County.

Tommie Williams SD 19 gets expanded all the way into Telfair & Treutlen County. Williams could a likely candidate to take on John Barrow for GA-12 in 2012.

But overall the Senate Map doesn't look bad & may get a pass from the courts & DOJ.

State Democrats will watch helplessly as the new maps get its likely approval from the legislature. Their only hope is for the court & the DOJ rule that these maps doesn't pass the smell test!

Retirement Watch: State Rep. Lynmore James (D-Montezuma) to retire in 2012

State Rep. Lynmore James (D-Montezuma) will step down as representative for HD 135 in 2012. This has nothing to do with redistricting of his district which basically remains the same except it loses northern Talbot County & picks up the rest of Dooly County in the proposed map presented by the GOP which renames the district HD 139.

James, who will turn 75 in two weeks have been recovering from back surgery since 2009 have been battling heath problems since that time & recently early this year he spent some time in a Atlanta Hospital battling a unknown illness.

Elected in 1992 riding the Zell Miller, Pierre Howard gubernatorial ticket, James, a moderate democrat & farmer have represented the constituents of Dooly, Peach, Talbot and Taylor Counties. Presently, he is serving on several House Committees: Agriculture & Consumer Affairs, Appropriations, Regulated Industries, and Retirement.

James is a graduate of the Flint River Farm High School in Montezuma and earned a Bachelor’s of Science from the Tuskegee University in Alabama & he has been a member of the Flag Bank Board of Directors, the Flint River Community Hospital Governing Board, the Georgia Center for Youth Advisory, Georgia Agri-Leaders Forum, the Fort Valley State University Foundation Board and the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

So if the new map of HD 135 holds up, there will be a new state representative for the counties of Macon, Dooly, Taylor & Southern Peach County. Already several names have been mentioned as possible candidates for James house seat. There is a strong possibilty that the next State Rep will come out of either Macon or Dooly County.

Georgia Redistricting Maps are Out!

The Senate Maps aren't bad. I don't see any legal challenges coming towards this map.

In the proposed State Senate Map, George Hooks (D-Americus) is drawn out of SD 14 into Freddie Powell Sims (D-Dawson) SD 12 district, which will pit the two one on one in a primary in 2012. The Northern Portion of SD 14 is now being taken by Ed Harbison (D-Columbus). Sumter County is split into two Senate with eastern Sumter now in John Crosby's SD 15 seat as well as democratic leaning county Dooly.

Harbison who is approaching 70 years old now has the counties of Macon, Schley, Tayor, Marion & Talbot to contend with. The new district is now solidly democratic, but don't expect Harbison to coast towards re-election (if he decides to seek in in 2012). I expect other democrats to challenge for the seat in 2012.

Now if there's one district that could see a challenge its SD 23 held by Jesse Stone (R-Waynesboro). The new district loses Washington, Wilkinson Counties & picks up McDuffie & Warren County & a tiny sliver of southern Columbia County. The Columbia County portion could be challenged by democrats because it wraps around Richmond County. But if it does, I expect it to stand legal challenges. One thing that's noticable: The city of Blythe, which is the home of J.B. Powell & Chuck Pardue are now in Hardie Davis Senate District. Clever move by the GOP.

SD 26 becomes more democratic & it increases in Black Voting Population with the inclusion of Hancock & Washingtom & more of Jones County

SD 25 held by Johnny Grant becomes more republican which now takes in southern Walton County & the city of Social Circle.

The proposed house districts is where all the fuss is located. One of the big GOP talking points was that they wanted to keep communities in tact...........WELL, so much for that!

In some of these districts, the minority population is diluted or "weakened" & some counties such as Ware is split into three different districts.

The 10 incumbent pairings, six with two Democrats paired and four with two Republicans paired, are:

1. Ely Dobbs (D-Atlanta) and Sheila Jones (D-Atlanta)

2. Pat Gardner (D-Atlanta) and Rashad Taylor (D-Atlanta)

3. Simone Bell (D-Atlanta) and Ralph Long (D-Atlanta)

4. Stephanie Benfield (D-Atlanta) and Howard Mosby (D-Atlanta)

5. Elena Parent (D-Atlanta) and Scott Holcomb (D-Atlanta)

6. Mack Jackson (D-Sandersville) and Sistie Hudson (D-Sparta)

7. Gerald Greene (R-Cuthbert) and Bob Hanner (R-Parrott)

8. Darlene Taylor (R-Thomasville) and Gene Maddox (R-Cairo)

9. Chuck Sims (R-Ambrose) and Tommy Smith (R-Nicholls)

10. Mark Hatfield (R-Waycross) and Jason Spencer (R-Woodbine)

There are 49 total majority minority districts.

There are open majority minority districts in Valdosta, parts Fulton and Fayette, Douglas, parts DeKalb and Rockdale, parts DeKalb and Gwinnett, and parts Gwinnett and Hall.

As crapy as the proposed House Map is, its very likely that it will pass the legislature, with the POSSIBILITY of minor changes to a few districts. Democrats have to realize when you only have 63 members in your ranks, there's basically nothing you can do about it except raise hell over it & hope that citizens who live in these districts disapprove of the way they are drawn. The Dems main concern is over the metro Atlanta seats. Very little or no mention of Rural Georgia & this shows how far apart rural conservative democrats & liberal urban/suburban democrats are in this state.

Enough of all this talk about "We are all in this together"! That's not true & never have been since the late 1980s/1990s.

The main goal of the Georgia GOP is to solidify the Georgia Democratic Party as the Minority Party made up of Blacks, Latinos, Gays, with liberal whites as the icing on the cake,along with far-left special interest groups! They are close to making it a reality.

And the current reality is that the Georgia Democratic Party has become the mirror image of the National Democratic Party, dominated by liberal pols who aren't what you called Georgia Born. And once they did that, moderate/conservative democrats said "ITS TIME TO HAUL ASS FROM HERE" except for a few!

And one more thing, these new maps hopefully will force the State Party to get back to its roots, the party of Georgia & not trying to be like its national counterparts. Its a recipe for disaster!

Will this be the actual Map of Georgia's Redrawn Congressional Districts?

It could be! I found this on a friend's Facebook Page so I decided to post it here. This could be very well how Georgia Congressional Districts would look like when redistricting is finalized sometime next month.

So what do you think about it? From my vantage point, the 1oth looks alot more attractive for a democrat to challenge showboatin' Arch-Conservative Paul Broun such as Michael Thurmond who is from Athens.

The 12th becomes a tossup seat with incumbent John Barrow either relocating to Augusta or remain in Savannah & taking on Jack Kingston. (Remember here in Georgia, you don't have to live in a district to run for congress). This looks like more of a attempt by republicans to force Barrow into early retirement. If you're looking for a lawsuit from Georgia Dems, it could come from here

The 8th loses Bibb & takes in all of south central Georgia. But I'm not so sure if this particular district will strengthen Austin Scott despite being the incumbent. There are some conservative democrats in these areas that could give Scott a run for the 8th. Some of the counties from Kingston's district used to be in the 8th when Saxby Chambliss was representative & when Jim Marshall won the seat in a special election back in 2001.

The 2nd becomes more democratic, but that doesn't mean that it can't be competitive for a republican. Sanford Bishop will be entering his 20th year as rep of the 2nd CD & there are alot of ambitious democrats in the district who are waiting when the time comes when Bishop retires & ride off into the sunset. It could be sooner than many people think!

1st CD-Kingston is stll relatively safe despite losing some of the counties in the western portion of the district & gaining all of Democratic leaning Chatham County & Republican Efffingham Counties. But he'll more likely will receive a challenge from Savannah Democrats with the inclusion of all of Chatham

2nd CD-Sanford Bishop is strengthen by the inclusion of Democratic Stronghold Bibb County, but loses swing county Worth & democratic leaning Dooly County & Republican lean Crisp County. I still think all of Muscogee County will be included in the 2nd.

The 10th no doubt will draw democratic challengers for Paul Broun. I could see a Michael Thurmond running in a district such as this with Blue Counties Clarke, Baldwin & Taliaferro in the mix along with swing counties Newton, Jones.

The 14th like many have predicted will be based in Hall Co going NE towards the S.C. N.C. Tenn. borders. If State Senator Jim Butterworth were to run, he'd be the favorite in my own personal opinion.

The rest of the districts are republican/democratic safe seats although Phil Gingrey may see another democratic challenger in a potential district such as the 13th as well as Rob Woodall in the 7th with Walton & Barrow going in the 10th.