Georgia re-redistricting on its way to governor’s desk

As Ed Kilgore first reported yesterday afternoon, Georgia Republicans, as expected, passed a measure to redraw the state’s congressional boundaries as part of the GOP’s latest re-redistricting stunt.

Georgia state legislators completed action on a mid-decade redistricting effort Tuesday, sending their proposed Congressional boundaries to Gov. Sonny Perdue (R).

The state House passed the remapping legislation for a second time this afternoon, giving its final stamp of approval to minor changes made and passed by the state Senate on Monday.

Perdue is expected to sign the measure into law, although a spokesman for the governor declined to give a specific timetable for when that might happen. He said Perdue will take time to carefully review the new lines.

Since Purdue was in on this from beginning, I’m sure his “careful review” will amount to a quick victory dance before putting his signature on the bill. That won’t, however, make it official. The Justice Department will still have to approve the new map, ensuring its consistency with the Voting Rights Act.

Assuming the map is approved, which seems more than likely, several lawmakers will be affected:

* Rep. Phil Gingrey (R) in Georgia’s 11th district has had a couple of tough fights, so Republicans stacked the deck in his favor for future races. His newly redrawn 11th now has more GOP voters.

* Freshman Rep. John Barrow (D), who eked out a victory in November in Georgia’s 12th district, has a problem. Not only is Barrow’s home outside his newly drawn district, but he now has fewer Democratic voters to appeal to.

* Rep. Jim Marshall (D), a long-time GOP target, will also find himself with a new challenge with fewer Dem, particularly African-American Dem, voters. Marshall is also likely to find himself up against former Rep. Mac Collins (R), who used to represent Georgia’s 8th district.

The next question, of course, is what Dems are prepared to do about it.

Let’s assume Georgia’s new map wins DoJ approval. Let’s also assume Dem lawsuits challenging the re-redistricting have no effect on the 2006 cycle. What we’re left with is yet another example of a Republican stunt protecting GOP incumbents and jeopardizing Dem seats by rigging and abusing the redistricting process.

Kilgore mentioned yesterday that he’d prefer “that that we not lurch into this on a chaotic, state-by-state basis full of potential partisan mischief, but thanks to our Republican buddies, I don’t think it’s any longer possible to put this particular genie back in the bottle.” I couldn’t agree more. The problem is, Dems are pretending the bottle was never opened in the first place.

Dems in Illinois — a prime opportunity for a “Blue” state re-redistricting effort — said they wouldn’t pursue a scheme of their own. Rahm Emanuel told Roll Call that “Democrats wanted to send a message by taking the high road.” Louisiana Dems, who have a similar opportunity, seem to have even less interest in redrawing their lines. There have been a few noises out of New Mexico and West Virginia, but nothing substantive.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: If taking the low road means winning, Republicans will take it without hesitation. They’ve already shown that they have no qualms about re-redistricting (in Texas, Colorado, and Georgia) and there’s no reason to believe they’ll suddenly stop doing this now. They do so because they believe they can get away with it free from Dem retaliation — and Dems are “sending a message” that these assumptions are absolutely correct.