ATLANTA-It all began 14 years ago when Sonny Perdue was elected the 81st Governor of Georgia.
In January of 2003, Perdue became the first Republican to serve as Georgia's Governor since 1872. Perdue successfully ran for the State Senate in the 1980s which led him to become majority leader in just four years. Once majority leader, he quickly transitioned to President Pro Tempore of the Senate. which then led to his campaign for Governor.
Shortly after becoming Governor, Perdue persuaded four Democratic Senators to follow his example and switch to the Republican Party. "He convinced four Democrats to switch and that gave control of the State Senate to Republicans," said State Rep. Joe Wilkinson (R). "Two years later, we won enough seats to take the majority for the first time since Reconstruction."
According to ballotpedia.org, Republicans currently hold 116 seats while the Democrats only hold 61 and there is one elected independent. The Republicans maintain control because they run unopposed in many districts according to Ballotpedia.
"People like our philosophy of limited government, conservative principles and especially on the financial side," Wilkinson said.The Democrats could gain ground in the 31 districts that have general election competition according to Ballotpedia. "The Democrats are certainly gaining across the state. Which in turn means they are going to pick up some house seats," Wilkinson said. "For example, in Gwinnett County, you've got districts that had been pretty comfortably Republican. But they're becoming more black and Hispanic."
Can the Democrats gain ground in the Georgia House?
"The Democrats positions are not with keeping with mainstream Georgians," Wilkinson said. "Again limited government, lower taxes and social issues have done it."Although this may be true, the Democrats say they are gaining ground in Gwinnett County according to AJC.com. Gwinnett Democratic Party Chairman Jim Shealey told AJC that the demographics in Gwinnett are the key for Democrats. "The demographics of the county have changed," Shealey said to AJC. “Whether it’s enough to get us over that 50 percent hump, I don’t know."
According to the department chair of Political Science and International Affairs at Kennesaw State University, Kerwin Swint, the Democrats have an advantage with the demographic change in Georgia. "African American voters now make up about 30 percent of the voters statewide," Swint said. "Republicans have to start appealing to minority voters and women voters."
State Rep. Taylor Bennett (D) contends there will be more of a push with particular districts where there are competitive races. "A large part I think is how the districts are drawn," Bennett said. "I am a big proponent of having equal districts. The more equal districts are, the more progress we'll actually have."
Bennett wishes that they could go back and redraw the districts. "Before my time, the Democrats had drawn the districts another way that really had Democrats favorably in the House," Bennett said. "Generally people would like to see equal districts. That would certainly generate a lot more balance in our political spectrum."
He explained the ways the districts are drawn are more in favor of Republicans. This is evident in a 2012 article by gainesvilletimes.com. According to Charles Bullock, a political scientist at the University of Georgia, the redrawing of boundaries is a major reason for the partisan shift as it applies to state legislative races.
"When the lines were redrawn in the 2004 election, Republicans won the majority in the Georgia House of Representatives," said David Shock, Professor of Political Science at Kennesaw State University. "It used to be all Democrat. But there just aren't enough districts for Democrats to win it."
With the general election around the corner, will there be a shift in the Georgia House?
Republicans believe the Democrats have not put up enough challenger's to have a major shift in the Georgia House. "They could pick up seats of course," Wilkinson said. "You can't keep a majority that large forever.We have enough seats that we should be able to hold the majority again."With this current election year, Bennett believes the Democrats will see a little more push from districts where there are competitive races. "In rural Georgia-that could potentially yield us three or four seats this year for the Democrats," Bennett said.
Though the Democrats could pick up three or four seats, there is a huge racial divide in Georgia explained Shock. "About 90 percent of African Americans vote Democratic," Shock said. "White voters vote about 75 percent Republican and that's just hard to overcome for Democrats."
Shock explained that there will most likely be no major shift in the House due to the fact that 75 percent of State Legislative seats are not contested. This means that there is one candidate running on the ballot in certain districts.
"I think it'll be closer in the next few years," Wilkinson said.
Why is it important to vote for your local government?
"I think it's of the utmost importance. I think if people were to realize how much impact their local government has on their day to day lives, people would start to take local government more seriously than the national scene," Bennett said.
Bennet explained that local governments have everything to do with one's school districts, property taxes and development in communities. "In reality, I think 90 to 95 percent daily impact from government actually happens at the lowest level of government," Bennett said.
Wilkinson reiterates the importance to vote for one's local government. "I am just so grateful for the right to vote," Wilkinson said. "We are so fortunate to have the right or to have the privilege to vote."
He explained it's critical to vote because each vote at all levels counts. "A candidate has quite an impact on your life," Wilkinson said.
