Supreme Court to hear challenge to Athens Senate district
DOUG GROSS
Associated Press
ATLANTA - Roughly three weeks before the Nov. 7 elections, the state Supreme Court on Monday will hear a challenge to an Athens Senate district redrawn by Republican lawmakers after a Democratic representative announced plans to seek the seat.
The redrawing - which was the only major map change by the Legislature this year - divides the Democratic stronghold of Athens into two Republican-dominated districts.
State Rep. Jane Kidd, D-Athens, is facing Republican Bill Cowsert to win the seat, which was vacated when incumbent Sen. Brian Kemp, a Republican, left to make an unsuccessful run for state agriculture commissioner.
A federal suit, in which Kidd was a plaintiff, has been thrown out. But the state case, filed by constituents in the new district, remains alive on appeal after an Athens Superior Court judge sided with the defendants.
Emmet Bondurant, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the lower court judge was wrong when he ruled the Legislature has a legal right to redraw political maps whenever it wants without a specific reason.
Political maps are usually redrawn every 10 years, based on the newest U.S. Census.
"They don't argue that it was necessary," Bondurant said Friday. "They just say the Legislature can do it any time they want."
He said the state constitution allows state and federal maps to be redrawn based on new population figures, but that the figures used by the Legislature were six years old and highly unlikely to be accurate.
"There was no evidence to show that changes in and around these three districts was any different than any of those in Senate and House districts all around the state," he said. "Yet this is the only one they touched."
Russ Willard, a spokesman for the Georgia attorney general's office which will defend the redistricting, said no one from the office would comment on the case before Monday's arguments.
Republicans in the Legislature said the changes to the map were made in response to a five-year-old request by commissioners in Madison County, who wanted their county to be entirely in one Senate district.
Bondurant said he does not expect the high court's ruling to affect the Nov. 7 election. If they find in favor of his clients, he said, they likely would require new elections to be held in three Athens-area districts based on their old boundary lines.
Cowsert, who is Kemp's brother-in-law, said he hasn't paid much attention to the suit. He said voters he's talked to have had mixed opinions about the new maps.
"What I hear is that the Democratic constituents in Clarke County (Athens) are unhappy," he said. "The business community and Chamber of Commerce in Clarke County is pleased to have a second state senator and the folks in Oconee County are delighted with the new district.
"It gives Oconee County a greater voice in the district."
The new district includes all of Oconee, about half of Athens and part of Walton County.
Kidd, who said she likes her chances in the race despite the addition of several Republican-leaning suburbs, said she no longer is paying much attention to the lawsuit.
"We are running this campaign, working hard and Oconee County, Clarke County and Walton County are the top of my interests right now," she said. "I'm not going to worry about it until it's decided."
Kidd said that, if elected, her first bill will be to have political redistricting in Georgia done by a bipartisan commission - not elected politicians.
"The bottom line is that partisan redistricting has been responsible for creating voter apathy and voter cynicism," she said. "They don't trust politicians, they don't trust government and I don't blame them."
ON THE NET
Bill Cowsert campaign, http://www.billcowsert.com
Jane Kidd campaign, http://www.electjanekidd.com
Associated Press
ATLANTA - Roughly three weeks before the Nov. 7 elections, the state Supreme Court on Monday will hear a challenge to an Athens Senate district redrawn by Republican lawmakers after a Democratic representative announced plans to seek the seat.
The redrawing - which was the only major map change by the Legislature this year - divides the Democratic stronghold of Athens into two Republican-dominated districts.
State Rep. Jane Kidd, D-Athens, is facing Republican Bill Cowsert to win the seat, which was vacated when incumbent Sen. Brian Kemp, a Republican, left to make an unsuccessful run for state agriculture commissioner.
A federal suit, in which Kidd was a plaintiff, has been thrown out. But the state case, filed by constituents in the new district, remains alive on appeal after an Athens Superior Court judge sided with the defendants.
Emmet Bondurant, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the lower court judge was wrong when he ruled the Legislature has a legal right to redraw political maps whenever it wants without a specific reason.
Political maps are usually redrawn every 10 years, based on the newest U.S. Census.
"They don't argue that it was necessary," Bondurant said Friday. "They just say the Legislature can do it any time they want."
He said the state constitution allows state and federal maps to be redrawn based on new population figures, but that the figures used by the Legislature were six years old and highly unlikely to be accurate.
"There was no evidence to show that changes in and around these three districts was any different than any of those in Senate and House districts all around the state," he said. "Yet this is the only one they touched."
Russ Willard, a spokesman for the Georgia attorney general's office which will defend the redistricting, said no one from the office would comment on the case before Monday's arguments.
Republicans in the Legislature said the changes to the map were made in response to a five-year-old request by commissioners in Madison County, who wanted their county to be entirely in one Senate district.
Bondurant said he does not expect the high court's ruling to affect the Nov. 7 election. If they find in favor of his clients, he said, they likely would require new elections to be held in three Athens-area districts based on their old boundary lines.
Cowsert, who is Kemp's brother-in-law, said he hasn't paid much attention to the suit. He said voters he's talked to have had mixed opinions about the new maps.
"What I hear is that the Democratic constituents in Clarke County (Athens) are unhappy," he said. "The business community and Chamber of Commerce in Clarke County is pleased to have a second state senator and the folks in Oconee County are delighted with the new district.
"It gives Oconee County a greater voice in the district."
The new district includes all of Oconee, about half of Athens and part of Walton County.
Kidd, who said she likes her chances in the race despite the addition of several Republican-leaning suburbs, said she no longer is paying much attention to the lawsuit.
"We are running this campaign, working hard and Oconee County, Clarke County and Walton County are the top of my interests right now," she said. "I'm not going to worry about it until it's decided."
Kidd said that, if elected, her first bill will be to have political redistricting in Georgia done by a bipartisan commission - not elected politicians.
"The bottom line is that partisan redistricting has been responsible for creating voter apathy and voter cynicism," she said. "They don't trust politicians, they don't trust government and I don't blame them."
ON THE NET
Bill Cowsert campaign, http://www.billcowsert.com
Jane Kidd campaign, http://www.electjanekidd.com
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