Local Leaders See Positives in Proposed Redistricting Maps

Redistricting is the every 10-year process following the Census where states redraw the lines of legislative districts. It's an important process to elected officials as a minor change in district lines can spell the difference between re-election and forced retirement. But it could be an even more important process to voters and residents in Paulding County.

If state leaders approve the new district maps that were revealed last week, the county would see only slight changes to its representation in the State Senate, while the number of Representatives whose districts cover Paulding would double.

Read more about the impacts to Paulding in the State House of Representatives and State Senate:

House

Paulding would retain representation from State Reps. Howard Maxwell, R-Dallas, and Paulette Braddock, R-Hiram, but the changing of legislative boundaries will give the county two more representatives, with Republican Bill Hembree’s 67th district and a new 66th district each taking portions of southeast Paulding. The adding of the two representatives will take some territory away from Braddock’s 19th district and Maxwell’s 17th. The new map would also see Maxwell’s district boundary move totally out of Haralson County, putting the district entirely within Paulding.

The latter fact was a positive of the proposed changes seen by Dallas Mayor Boyd Austin.

“Both the Senate and House maps are a first draft, and may wind up nowhere near what they are today. However, I am glad to see Rep. Howard Maxwell solely within Paulding County,” Austin told Dallas-Hiram Patch on Friday. “I will be interested to see the actual large version of the maps to know exactly where the boundaries fall.”

“Nobody got everyone they wanted,” said Maxwell, referring to the maps. He spoke to Dallas-Hiram Patch on Monday.

“I hated having to give up some of the district I gave up, but you’ve got to get down to 53,820 folks,” Maxwell added, referring to the target population number each drawn district is supposed to hit or come close to. “The ideal situation for us—I think Paulding County’s got about 141,000 folks—it would’ve been nice if we could’ve worked it out to have three reps living in Paulding County. It just didn’t shake out that way.

“In the meetings we went to, everybody talked about how they wanted their reps to live in their county. When you’ve got to have the 53,820 folks per district—there are districts down in South Georgia where one rep is going to represent eight, nine or 10 counties—it’s just that the population drives it. To have three reps directly living in Paulding County and representing Paulding County, we’d need 161,460 folks, and we’ve only got 141,000 in the county. It just didn’t work out.”

Senate

If the proposed map is approved, the 31st district belonging to State Sen. Bill Heath, R-Bremen, would shed territory in Bartow County but would gain some portions of Paulding, while Polk and Haralson counties would retain full district coverage.

State Sen. Bill Hamrick, R-Carrollton, would retain most of the southern strip of Paulding that is currently in District 30, though is losing a portion of it to Heath’s district. The new map would have his district cover more ground in Carroll County but appears to lose some territory in Douglas County.

Maxwell says he believes some will be critical on the proposed maps, but believes there is a good chance the maps will earn approval. He added that he would vote in favor of them if they do not undergo any changes.

“I think they’re pretty fair maps. I think they’re going to be fair, they’re going to be constitutional,” he said. “I know the other side of the aisle was fussing about, you know, [Republicans] ‘taking advantage,’ we’re doing this, that and the other, but I think they’re going to be pretty workable maps.”

Republicans dominate the reapportionment process in Georgia by virtue of their control of the House, Senate and governor's office. But Georgia is also one of nine states covered by Section V of the Voting Rights Act requiring federal approval for any change in election law, including redistricting.

Maps can be viewed at www.legis.ga.gov.

We hope to bring you more reaction from local leaders and legislators in the coming days as the redistricting process continues. In the meantime, we also hope to hear from you.