ATLANTA -- The state House approved a new set of congressional districts Thursday, fulfilling a major goal of Republicans who took over the chamber this year.
The new map rearranges the state's 13 congressional districts to erase the partisan gerrymander passed in 2001, when Democrats ran state government. Typically Congressional districts are drawn just once a decade, but the GOP said the odd-shaped districts were so unfair to them that it needed to be done sooner.
The map, approved 104-72, features more-compact districts, and safer districts for the seven Republicans in Congress. The only incumbent who was left without a district was Democratic Rep. John Barrow of Athens, who would be paired with a longer-serving Republican, Rep. Charlie Norwood. Georgia now has seven Republicans and six Democrats in the U.S. House.
Republican leaders said the map was a much-needed improvement over the current map. They showed pictures of current odd-shaped districts on a projection screen and said the gerrymander of 2001 was a wrong that must be righted, even though that plan was OK'd by a federal court.
http://www.wsbtv.com/politics/4273302/detail.html?rss=atl&psp=news
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