This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

Proposed Peachtree Corners City United in Single State House District

Draft of map shows State House district shifts slightly to align it more closely with the borders of the proposed city.

One of Georgia's new draft political maps shifts a Peachtree Corners state House district just a bit, to align it more closely with the borders of the proposed city.

The 51st district, held by GOP state Rep. Tom Rice will expand all the way to the DeKalb County line, exactly where the City of Peachtree Corners draft border is drawn. Buford Highway would be the southeast border for Rice's district.

That means the district would include all of a city of Peachtree Corners as well as about half of Norcross. The Fulton County line and the Chattahoochee would form most of Rice's northern border, as they do now. Those are also the proposed borders for Peachtree Corners. 

Find out what's happening in Peachtree Cornerswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The district would include more: it would meander into a few blocks of Fulton on the other side of the Chattahoochee River. Finally, the border would come back onto dry land, collect Berkeley Lake, then complete the circuit in Duluth at Buford Highway.

So the proposed Peachtree Corners city limits are all within the district, though the district also includes areas which are not part of the would-be city. Rice's district will also get a new number, 95.

Find out what's happening in Peachtree Cornerswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Every 10 years, the state Legislature must redraw electoral boundaries to equalize population based on new U.S. Census numbers.  For the first time in living memory, there's a GOP majority in charge of the state House and Senate and hence the Georgia Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office during redistricting, meaning the GOP drew the maps.

The new state House map cuts incumbent Rep. Pedro Marin (D-Norcross) out of the area. Today he represents Peachtree Corners Road from I-85 to Holcomb Bridge.  His home is being drawn into a more Duluth-centric seat.

Marin is not sure he can win reelection in a redder district and accuses the GOP of targeting him as the House's sole Latino Democrat. Republicans counter that their maps are fair and will stand up to the required federal check for racial gerrymandering.

In the state Senate, Peachtree Corners is still set to be split in two GOP-leaning districts. A line along Peachtree Parkway now splits the area between state Sen. Fran Millar's Dunwoody seat and state Sen. David Shafer's Duluth seat. That line will be shifted slightly, to bring neighborhoods around Black Lake and East Jones Bridge Road into the Duluth district. Berkeley Lake also remains part of the Shafer district.

In the U.S. Congress, most of Gwinnett County, including Peachtree Corners and Berkeley Lake are set to stay in the GOP-leaning U.S. House 7th district, now held by Rep. Rob Woodall (R-Lawrenceville).

The congressional map is nearly finished speeding through the legislature. It's expected on the governor's desk by Wednesday. The state House and state Senate maps were already voted through on nearly party-line votes and have been signed by Governor Nathan Deal.

Next the maps head to Washington D.C. for approval by either the Department of Justice or a federal judge. Georgia, like most of the Deep South that shares a Jim Crow history, requires a federal double-check of maps to make sure no districts have the motive or effect of disenfranchising minority voters.

If the maps need only minor changes or no changes at all, they should be in place for the 2012 election cycle.

All of Georgia's state Representatives and Senators and U.S. House members are up for reelection in 2012.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Peachtree Corners