Almost every Macon state, federal legislative district will soon change. What to know

In 2020, more than half of the people running for the Georgia General Assembly ran unopposed, according to a state voting rights group.

In local races, that number rose to more than three-fourths, said Susannah Scott, president of the League of Women Voters of Georgia, Inc.

Why were 76% of local political races uncontested in 2020? There are several factors, but the most obvious is the way city, county and state representative districts are created.

Both Democrats and Republicans redraw districts to their own advantage, a process known as gerrymandering. Republicans have controlled the state House, Senate and governor’s office since 2005, and the General Assembly since 2003, which allowed Republicans to create favorable district lines after the 2010 Census and, potentially, this year.

“It’s a result of gerrymandering… elected officials run unopposed because potential candidates know they can’t win,” Scott said. “It really undermines the fabric of our democracy when we don’t trust that our elections can mean anything.”

Georgia legislators are currently redrawing those lines to accommodate data from the 2020 U.S. Census — information initially collected last year but only released this summer due to the pandemic.

“We have historically had problems in Georgia with gerrymandering happening where the legislature would create districts that really impacted the power of minority voters,” Scott said. “When legislators don’t have to rely on voters of the opposite party or different viewpoints, then they don’t have to listen to them, and so it really weakens the political voice of individuals.”

Population distribution is partially to blame for oddly shaped districts, because most Americans live in and around major cities. Each state House district has to contain 59,000 people, and each Senate district, 191,000.

Macon-Bibb County is split between five state House districts, and Georgia’s population grew by more than 10% over the past decade, but Bibb County’s didn’t. That means every state and federal district that touches Macon-Bibb County, except for State House District 141, will have to grow to meet the new population standards.

Those districts are already problematic, because they jumble communities and counties together that often have different, if not competing, interests.

Take House District 144, represented by Danny Mathis, for example. A massive district that covers vast stretches of rural farmland and forests, 144 is hemmed in by the Oconnee River to the east, takes bites out of Houston and Bibb counties while avoiding most of Macon and Warner Robins, stretches almost all the way down to Hawkinsville and skirts the Gray city limits to the north.

If you live in northwest Macon — say, along Zebulon, or in Wesleyan Woods — you share Rep. Dale Washburn, who also represents folks north of Forsyth. That is, unless they live west of town, in which case their representative is Robert Dickey (of Dickey Farms and soft serve peach ice cream fame). Dickey’s HD 140 also dips into north Warner Robins, south toward Reynolds and west to Salem.

Gerrymandered or not, splitting Bibb County into five districts diminishes Maconites’ political power, experts say. Contested elections allow communities to have public debates about issues and problems they want solved by their representatives, and fair districts allow for more candidates to run in races and more participation in government, Scott said.

“It gets to the heart of democracy. If you don’t have fairly drawn districts, if you don’t have districts that really respect political boundaries in cities and counties and don’t respect minority groups and communities of interest, then you are not going to have a democracy that actually represents the people who live in that community,” she said. “Redistricting really impacts how much of a say we have in how our government works.”

Georgia gerrymandering

Fair Districts GA, a nonpartisan organization, partnered with the Princeton Gerrymandering Project in January to analyze Georgia’s past 20 years of redistricting and examine the maps the legislator releases this year.

In the 20 year analysis, the project found gerrymandering following the 2000 Census when Democrats controlled the Georgia General Assembly and again following the 2010 Census when Republicans had control.

“The reality is redistricting and gerrymandering, in particular, impact everything else you care about,” said Janet Grant, vice chair of Fair Districts GA.

Unfair districts can cause polarization because the winner in an election is chosen in the primary rather than the general election, she said.

“You end up with people that really don’t have to answer to the general voters. They’re really playing to their base, and so we end up with not having representation that really reflects what most Georgians want,” Grant said. “You want elected officials to care about your vote and to care about listening to you as their constituent, and they don’t have to if they’re in a safe district.”

Although major changes to district lines typically happen after a census, Georgia districts can be changed any time, and the guidelines around redistricting aren’t comprehensive, Scott said.

The two main guidelines are that the districts have to be proportional and the boundaries have to be continuous, she said.

What can you do about it?

The Georgia Senate and House Redistricting Committees are responsible for reviewing the new district maps the General Assembly will eventually vote on. The legislators recently approved guidelines nearly identical to the guidelines used 10 years ago, despite several members of the public asking for more transparency.

When the maps are ready, Gov. Brian Kemp will schedule a special session of the General Assembly. Once the maps are passed by the assembly and signed by the governor, they will go into effect for the 2022 mid-term elections, according to Grant.

Georgia doesn’t have to submit redistricting maps to the federal government for approval after the U.S. Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013.

Middle Georgians can contact their local representatives if they have concerns about the redistricting process, and the redistricting committees are still accepting comments from the public on the Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office’s website.