When two isn't better than one
Not content merely holding 12-seat advantage (34-22) in the State Senate, Sen. Ralph Hudgens (R-Comer) has decided it's in the best interest of Athens-Clarke County if we cut the county in half and stick it with some counties which have little, if anything, in common with it. On the first day of the 2006 General Assembly, Hudgens proposed redrawing the current senate districts, dividing Athens-Clarke County into two wedges with one going west toward Oconee County and the other going right toward Jackson and Oglethorpe Counties.
Not surprisingly, this will severely dilute the voting power of Athens-Clarke County citizens - who tend to be overwhelmingly Democratic - by lumping them in with the more conservative outlying counties. Hudgens claims that 'Monroe (in Walton County) has a lot more in common with Athens than anything else.'
Uh ... have you ever been to Monroe Sen. Hudgens? Have you ever set foot in Athens for that matter? A small town which is the seat of a predominantly rural county is similar to a growing urban population which is home to the state's largest university?
Rep. Jane Kidd (D-Athens) now thinks she may abandon her bid for the State Senate seat for District 46 if the redistricting passes, and she told the Athens Banner-Herald that she felt the move was purely political and designed to keep Republicans from losing the seat (currently held by Brian Kemp) to a Democrat. Well ... of course it is. Most things in politics these days tend to be political (sadly), but this is kinda much don't you think?
Listen, I'm all for giving Athens-Clarke County two more seats - but only by doing so within the county limits. This community has a population of more than 100,000 and - with the growth of the University of Georgia and natural population influxes - will probably add on another 5,000 to 10,000 people in the next 10 to 15 years. This is a predominantly progressive community and diluting their voting strength and giving them conservative representatives in the legislature does an injustice to their interests.
Likewise, I'm all for adding seats in the rural counties. Those are overwhelmingly Republican areas, and they too deserve the the opportunity to elect conservative leaders who best represent their views. Making them compete with voters in Athens-Clarke County does a disservice to them.
But let's not fool ourselves and say it's fair to slice and dice through random counties willy nilly. It's political ... pure and simple. If the folks currently in control of the Georgia General Assembly really cared about fair representation they'd realize leaving the current districts alone is the best solution.
Not surprisingly, this will severely dilute the voting power of Athens-Clarke County citizens - who tend to be overwhelmingly Democratic - by lumping them in with the more conservative outlying counties. Hudgens claims that 'Monroe (in Walton County) has a lot more in common with Athens than anything else.'
Uh ... have you ever been to Monroe Sen. Hudgens? Have you ever set foot in Athens for that matter? A small town which is the seat of a predominantly rural county is similar to a growing urban population which is home to the state's largest university?
Rep. Jane Kidd (D-Athens) now thinks she may abandon her bid for the State Senate seat for District 46 if the redistricting passes, and she told the Athens Banner-Herald that she felt the move was purely political and designed to keep Republicans from losing the seat (currently held by Brian Kemp) to a Democrat. Well ... of course it is. Most things in politics these days tend to be political (sadly), but this is kinda much don't you think?
Listen, I'm all for giving Athens-Clarke County two more seats - but only by doing so within the county limits. This community has a population of more than 100,000 and - with the growth of the University of Georgia and natural population influxes - will probably add on another 5,000 to 10,000 people in the next 10 to 15 years. This is a predominantly progressive community and diluting their voting strength and giving them conservative representatives in the legislature does an injustice to their interests.
Likewise, I'm all for adding seats in the rural counties. Those are overwhelmingly Republican areas, and they too deserve the the opportunity to elect conservative leaders who best represent their views. Making them compete with voters in Athens-Clarke County does a disservice to them.
But let's not fool ourselves and say it's fair to slice and dice through random counties willy nilly. It's political ... pure and simple. If the folks currently in control of the Georgia General Assembly really cared about fair representation they'd realize leaving the current districts alone is the best solution.
posted by Jmac at 8:18 AM
5 Comments:
Ok...BUT. Let's take a quick look at the politics behind the politics. First off, I completely agree with your analysis. It's an overt political move, and other than the fact that they both occupy real estate in Georgia, Monroe and Athens have little in common.
But I'm more interested in Jane Kidd's response. Mad props to her for telling it like it is, and acknowledging that Athens is getting "jerked around."
But, here's the thing. If this passes and she drops out as a result, then Athens will be represented by a Republican for many more years. Like it or not, she's the big dog in the race, and as a fairly high-profile local pol, she makes big contributions to the stare decisis of local politics. If she jumps out, I don't see any credible candidates jumping in. There are worse things in the world than having Bill Cowsert as your State Senator (for instance, having Ralph Hudgins as your state rep), but it's still a bad move.
Finally, from an idealistic standpoint, jumping from the State Senate race back to her safe State House seat tells me a lot about Jane Kidd, mostly that she's more interested in winning than serving. I know you've got to serve to win, but there's got to be more to governing than just picking the low-hanging fruit.
Even if this passes (which I doubt it will, the GOP has gotten into enough trouble monkeying with voters lately), Kidd still needs to run, work hard, make up that fundraising gap, and just win, baby.
Oh, one thing I forgot to add, that might be the most salient point.
Which does Athens have more in common with, Monroe, or...gosh, I don't know, the other friggin' half of Athens?!
Okay, not jumping into political discussion (not my bag), but how do you know who the Cartersville Purple Hurricanes are? Random!
Ah .. the Purple Hurricanes. You know, there are only a handful of other high schools bearing said nickname.
I spent about four years covering high school sports in Northeast Georgia for the Banner-Herald, and quite often a team from our area had to go play a team from the region Cartersville was in. In fact, Cartersville beat Hart County in 1999 for the state championship. So, I'm well-versed in such random things ...
not much has been made public about the involvement of our local Chamber of Commerce in these shenanigans but, they are definitely involved on the wrong side, as usual.
this should remove all doubt that our local Chamber is anything but non-partisan. they are all too happy to sell our community down the river for their Republican buddies.
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