Unique state government

[Adam Griffin]

Until the federal courts ruled in the early 1960s that state legislative redistricting had to be based on population rather than county, every county in Georgia was guaranteed at least one state house member. Additionally, each state senate district comprised three counties and each seat rotated between the three counties at the end of each term - effectively term-limiting all state senators. In effect, being in the state house was more desirable and proved to be more influential for many a Georgia politician.

Multi-member districts - alongside single-member districts - were utilized after the federal courts ruled against county-based redistricting, primarily as a way to dilute minority votes. This system was present from the early 1960s until the 1991 redistricting plan eliminated the concept. Governor Roy Barnes (the last Democratic Governor of Georgia) initially tried to bring back multi-member districts in the 2001 redistricting as a way to bolster the Democratic Party's rapidly weakening grip on complete control of the state. The plan effectively reduced minority representation; many black Democrats collaborated with Republicans to create an alternate plan. Neither of these maps ended up being the ultimate plan, however, and the one that passed was ultimately struck down by the courts a couple of years later. The overreach by Democrats effectively handed control of the General Assembly to the Republicans (and will be likely to continue through at least 2022), as the Republicans were in the majority when the 2001 maps were struck down and therefore got to draw them.