Buckhead could see partisan fight

Buckhead could become the focus of a tight race between the Senate Minority Caucus chair from Smyrna and a possible Republican challenger, if a draft map of Georgia's state Senate districts is approved.

Sen. Doug Stoner, a Democrat from Smyrna, would be drawn into a Buckhead state Senate district under maps that state lawmakers will begin discussing during a special legislative session that starts Monday. That new, more compact district, would mean Buckhead would be represented by four senators rather than the current five.

The map would also shift incumbent state Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta) out of Buckhead and shift Marietta Republican Sen. Judson Hill in. Fort said he has the greatest respect for Hill, but that he "does not belong" in Fulton County.

The draft map is a product of the Georgia Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office. Once every 10 years, Georgia state lawmakers must redraw district borders based on new U.S. Census numbers and population shifts. For the first time in decades, Republicans control Georgia's government and the redrawing process.

Buckhead voted for for Republican Governor Nathan Deal over his Democratic opponent in 2010. That indicates GOP strength in the Buckhead neighborhoods that would be put in Stoner’s redrawn district.  

But Democrats say it’s a winnable race and pledge that they would fight hard for their leader.

"I know it is a seat Doug Stoner can win," said Sen. Jason Carter (D-Decatur).

On the House side, state Rep. Ed Lindsey, the GOP incumbent from Buckhead's main state House seat, would run in a 54th district that shifts slightly south and east. The new draft map cuts off Chastain Park, mostly trading it for lower Piedmont Road and Howell Mill Road. In 2010, the new area voted for  Deal over his Democratic opponent by roughly a 10 to 7 ratio.

Chastain Park and Randall Mill would join the Sandy Springs state House district held by Republican Rep. Joe Wilkinson. Currently, the Sandy Springs state House district stops at the park.

The new lines would also make I-75 the border between Republican and Democrat Buckhead. Paran Hills and Northside Drive would be severed from their current House member, Democrat Elly Dobbs, who lives west of the freeway.

The new map shifts Dobbs' district even more, putting her home in the same district as another Democratic incumbent, Rep. Sheila Jones.

That means the two women would have to run against each other to keep a seat in the House. And because Dobbs is white and Jones is black, Democratic leaders say it’s doubly unfair. 

Black-white contests mean "some of these intown communities are going to lose their multiracial coalitions," said House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams (D-Kirkwood).

Relatively few state Legislators are of a different race than the majority of people they represent. Dobbs, whose district extends into part of the Cascade community, is one of them. Abrams said making such changes amounts to “segregation.”

The draft district, however, is more compact than the existing district. That was one of the guidelines that lawmakers pledged to follow.

The GOP denies any gerrymandering and points out that Republicans will lose several safe seats in South Georgia due to shrinking rural populations. Statewide, the GOP calculates they will have four new districts where incumbent Republicans will have to face off to stay in office.

“Each of these pairings is necessitated by the Voting Rights Act and population shifts,” said Lindsey in a written statement released through the state House press office.

All maps must eventually be approved by the federal government, to make sure they do not disenfranchise minority voters under that act.

The Legislature will also redraw U.S. House districts this summer. Georgia will get a 14th U.S. Congress member. Census numbers put that seat somewhere in the heavily GOP counties just north of metro Atlanta.

That draft map is not expected to appear until next week at the earliest.

In January 2012, the Legislature will take up city, county and board of education districts, as well as the state's utility regulators, the Public Service Commission.