In Georgia (for example), if we insist on holding elections for most statewide executive offices, these offices should be made nonpartisan:
Secretary of State
Attorney General
State Superintendent of Schools
Labor Commissioner
Agriculture Commissioner
Insurance and Fire Commissioner
Public Service Commissioner
I would like to see the above change appended to SB 14, which would make district attorney and solicitor general elections nonpartisan. Hell, add it to sheriff elections as well.
None of these should be subject to the partisan primary filter or party labels.
Qualifying for the May 21 Democratic primary and nonpartisan election ended last Friday at noon.
House seats being competed for by Democrats in November 2024. Districts in yellow are Biden-voting or slightly-Trump-favoring districts according to 2020 data. Senate seats being competed for by Democrats in November 2024.
Statewide:
John Barrow is running for Andrew Pinson’s seat on the Supreme Court. This is the first likely-substantial contest against an incumbent justice in years. This “nonpartisan” election is on May 21.
There will be a “nonpartisan” contest for an open seat on the State Court of Appeals. Attorney Jeff Davis will face off against Cobb County Magistrate Judge Tabitha Ponder. This “nonpartisan” election is on May 21.
The Public Service Commission elections have been cancelled again, and the current commissioners will remain on the ballot for the next two years. It’s likely that we will be voting on all five commissioners in 2026.
We are now running for 38 seats (2/3rds) in the Senate and 135 seats (3/4) in the House. To compare, since 1992, we’ve ran for at least 75% of the House in 1992, 1994, 1996 and 2020.
We are running for District Attorney positions in 14 circuits. There will be Republican challengers in three circuits: Atlanta, Chattahoochee and Eastern.
Democrats are running for all 14 congressional districts. There will be Republican challengers in all but GA13.
At the end of qualifying, we left HD104, a Biden district in Gwinnett County, HD151, a slightly-Trump voting district in Southwest GA, and SD4, a Biden district near Savannah, on the table.
And now for local elections around Columbus:
We will have a Democrat, Carl Sprayberry, for HD139 (open).
We will have a Democrat, Ellen Wright, for SD29.
Debbie Buckner in HD137 will have a primary challenge from Carlton Mahone Jr and a Republican challenger.
Teddy Reese in HD140 will have a Democratic challenger in Alyssa Nia Williams.
There will be a Democratic primary for the open seat in deep-red GA03. Val Almonord, who was the Democratic nominee in 2020 and 2022, will have a challenge
There will be a Republican challenger for GA02.
We now have a Democrat running for District Attorney in Chattahoochee Circuit: criminal defense attorney Anthony L. Johnson. He has no primary opposition, and will be on the ballot in November against Republican and acting DA Don Kelly. We are also challenging a Republican for DA in Eastern Circuit as well.
Our incumbent Sheriff Greg Countryman is running for re-election as a Democrat. He will be opposed in November by Republican Mark LaJoye.
Our incumbent state court solicitor Suzanne Goddard, who previously held office as a Democrat, is running for re-election as a Republican. We have a Democratic challenger in Shevon Sutcliffe Thomas.
Buddy Bryan is running for re-election as Coroner as a Democrat. He will be opposed in the May primary by Royal Anderson. No Republican is running in November.
Lula Lunsford Huff is not running for re-election as Tax Commissioner. David Britt is running as a Democrat for the position and is unopposed in May and November.
We will likely not have a challenger to Gary Allen for Council District 6. A potential candidate fell through. I am sad about this as well since I live here.
Toyia Tucker will have a challenge in Council District 4. This “nonpartisan” election is on May 21.
There will be a four-way race for Council At-Large 10. This “nonpartisan” election is on May 21.
There will be a contest for Board of Education District 7, with Lakeitha Ashe challenging incumbent Pat Frey. This “nonpartisan” election is on May 21.
Incumbents unopposed in May and November: Danielle Forte (D) for Superior Court Clerk, Reginald Thompson (D) for Clerk of Municipal Court, Marc D’Antonio (D) for Judge of Probate Court.
No contests for HD138 (Vance Smith (R)), HD141 (Carolyn Hugley (D)), City Council Districts 2, 6 or 8, Board of Education District 1, 3, 5, or At-Large 9, nor State Court Judge (Temesgen).
In addition, there may be some party primary advisory ballot questions.
Retirements:
Both Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler (SD55) and House Minority Leader James Beverly (HD142) are not running for re-election to either house.
Other Senate Democratic retirements: Valencia Seay (SD34) and Horacena Tate (SD38).
Other House Democratic retirements: Doug Stoner (HD42), Roger Bruce (HD61), Mandisha Thomas (HD65), Pedro Marin (HD96), Gregg Kennard (HD107), Gloria Frazier (HD126), Patty Bentley (HD150).
The GOP’s proposed Senate map keeps the party composition at 33R-23D by packing two majority-black districts and eliminating two majority-white Democratic districts.
The Democratic response would shift the party composition to 31R-25D by adding two majority-Black districts in the southern Atlanta suburbs.
The Democrats are challenging the GOP Senate map as not fulfilling the court order. Won’t be surprised if it goes back to court.
Looking at the glass half-full, the current Senate party composition is the closest its ever been since Republicans gained the Senate majority in 2003-2004 for the first time since Reconstruction. They held it at 30R-26D, then increased it to a historic 39R-17D by 2016 before Democrats began bouncing back from 2017 onward.
Republican House proposal 2023Democratic House proposal
House has 180 total seats, majority is 91.
The GOP’s proposed House map brings the party composition of the House in 2025 to 99R-81D, down from the current composition of 102R-78D.
The Democratic response would modestly bring the party composition to 96R-84D by creating four majority-Black and one plurality-Black districts while double-bunking or flipping some Republican seats in the process.
Not as much Democratic outcry about the GOP House map as there is against their Senate map. However, there is disagreement from expert testimony on whether the House map passes the VRA smell test.
The last time the GOP was under 100 members in the House was the 148th General Assembly in 2005-2006, when the GOP held the House for the first time since Reconstruction. It was 99R-80D-1 independent. From there, Republicans ascended to a high of 119R-60D-1 independent 2013-2016 before Democrats bounced back from 2017 onward.
Under both House maps, Houston County finally gets Democratic House representation, with the map stretching HD143 (currently held by House leader James Beverly) to represent Warner Robins and northern Houston County while splitting central Macon into three blue districts stretching into surrounding counties.
Larry Walker was the last Democrat to represent a portion of Houston County in the House, way back in the 147th General Assembly (2003-2004).
Nothing in Greater Columbus was touched (obviously).
The map definitely strengthens the Black Belt’s African American representation a bit.
This map, and the Democratic response, reflects how the state’s popular vote has shifted to the left in the last several elections.
Even on gerrymandering grounds, I wonder why the GOP wants to keep the current margins for Senate while conceding 3 seats in the House. I’d have expected at least one concession in the Senate for a 32R-24D map.
I wouldn’t be surprised if, in the congressional map phase, the GOP goes the route of packing more Black voters into Lucy McBath’s GA07 rather than redraw the west Atlanta suburbs between the 3rd, 6th, 11th, 13th and 14th districts. The Dems are hoping to keep the 7th intact.
Democrats are hoping for something like this (courtesy Stephen Wolf @PoliticsWolf):
It would make sense for a decision in Rose v Raffensperger to come before Thanksgiving, which quickly precedes the start of the special legislative session on November 29. As stated in Saporta Report, this decision will be cited for decades. It will have an impact on voting rights, redistricting and other types of litigation, not only in the 11th Circuit but elsewhere.
But I go back to the VRA litigation saga from 2011-2016 against at-large FPTP elections in jurisdictions like Fayette County, GA, or to the 100+ court cases since 1982 in Georgia alone which replaced at-large districts with single-winner district elections for city councils, school boards, county commissions and legislative districts.
I would be very surprised if the 11th Circuit sided with Georgia on the PSC’s at-large election method. But the clock is ticking on the 11th Circuit to make a decision:
the special session on congressional and legislative districts starts on 29 November;
then a regular session to start in January 2024 for 40 days, which is a chance to change statute law regarding PSC elections;
then a general election to be held in November in which at least another PSC seat (District 5, held by Republican Tricia Pridemore) will be on the ballot (and maybe the two held by Echols and Johnson?), as well as a chance for voters to change Article IV Section 1 of the state constitution regarding the PSC.
On the flip side, the 11th Circuit could rule the case unjusticiable and remove itself from the case. Or they could rule for the plaintiffs but then the state could simply move the PSC to an appointed body instead (like most states). Who knows.
So federal district Judge Steve Jones ruled that Georgia’s current legislative and congressional maps – namely one seat for US House, two seats for state senate and five seats for house – violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The ruling is 516 pages long, and calls for the legislature to draw new maps by December 8 or else a special master will be appointed.
Also the ruling states these following demands:
Redrawn congressional majority-minority district must be in west of Atlanta, including parts of Cobb and Douglas counties
Two redrawn state senate majority-minority districts must be in south of Atlanta
two House seats south of Atlanta, one west of Atlanta, and two around Macon
And now Gov Kemp (aka Lurch), on the same day, has called a legislative session for redrawing both maps, set for November 29.
Much of the commentary focuses on how the Republican majority may simply do a sleight of hand and redraw Lucy McBath’s district to be majority-Black instead of redrawing a district west of Atlanta. If so, it’s back to court.
I’m also interested in the state house map ordered by the judge, which would likely create a majority-Black district in Warner Robins/northern Houston County for the first time. House Districts 142, 143, 145, 147 and 149, all ordered to be redrawn, cover Crawford, Wilkinson, Twiggs, Bleckley, central and southern Macon-Bibb, northern half of Peach, northern and central Houston and northern and central Dodge counties.
