The 2006 Georgia House of Representatives Races

There are 180 districts in the Georgia State House of Representatives.

House members must be elected every two years.

The 2005 House is made up of 100 Republicans, 79 Democrats, and 1 Independent.

Four House Democrats are running for re-election as Republicans.

The Georgia House districts are drawn so that each district contains as close to exactly 45,580 citizens as possible, based on the 2000 census.

The elections of 2002 were conducted on the basis of district maps drawn by the Democratic controlled legislature in 2001. Republicans challenged the Democrat-drawn maps for both the House and the Senate in court. The judges supported the challenge and charged the General assembly to re-draw the maps. When the General Assembly could not agree on revised legislative redistricting, the court drawn maps were used in the 2004 elections.

The 2006 House district lines are the same as they were in 2004 with the exception of 8 Districts which were rearranged as a result of HB 1137, passed by the General Assembly in 2005. That legislation adjusted House districts in three different areas of the state. The sponsors of the bill claimed that these were logical changes to realign like communities. Common Cause Georgia suspects that there were other motives as well.

It should be noted that all 8 House districts tweaked in 2005 are represented by Republicans, now the majority party. Historically, when Democrats controlled the General Assembly, these kinds of between-the-census “tuning exercises” also took place, notably at the behest of party leaders. We stand clearly opposed to the practice of mid-decade tuning because we feel it is not the role of elected officials to decide who elects them.

Summary of House Race Activity

From the 180 Georgia House seats, 159 incumbents are running for re-election.

21 seats (12%) are “open” – with no incumbent running for re-election

Of the 159 incumbents running for re-election,

115 are unopposed in the general election
44 are running against one or more opponents

Of the 115 incumbents with no opposition,

65 are Republicans (including 2 who were elected as Democrats in 2004)
50 are Democrats

Of the 44 incumbents with opponents:

32 are Republicans (including 2 who were elected as Democrats in 2004)
12 are Democrats

Of the 32 Republicans facing opposition:

21 have a Democratic opponent
10 had opposition only in the primary from another Republican
1 has an Independent opponent

Of the 12 Democrats facing opposition:

8 have a Republican opponent
2 had opposition only in the primary from another Democrat
2 have an Independent opponent

Of the 21 open seats:

12 are held today by Democrats
8 are held today by Republicans
1 is held today by an Independent

Of the 12 seats being vacated by Democrats

5 have unopposed Democrats contending for the seat
6 have both a Democrat and a Republican contending
1 has a Democrat and an Independent contending for the seat

· Of the 8 seats vacated by Republicans

o 4 have unopposed Republicans contending for the seat

o 4 have both a Democrat and a Republican contending

· The one seat vacated by the Independent is contested by two Democrats

Analysis of Competitiveness:

[Note: the following conclusions deal only with whether there is some competition between the parties or not. We do not attempt here to judge the viability of candidates relative to their name recognition, or their ability to raise sufficient money to mount an effective campaign. Many of the races, while competitive on paper, may be races where, in fact, incumbents hold a considerable advantage.]

Known from the outset:

· 115 of the 180 Representatives (63%) will return in 2006

· 79 seats are guaranteed to remain in Republican hands.

o 65 unopposed incumbents (including 2 party switchers)

o 10 incumbents with only primary opposition

o 4 open seats without Democrats running

· 58 seats are guaranteed to remain in Democratic hands.

o 50 unopposed incumbents

o 2 incumbents with only primary opposition

o 6 open seats without Republicans running

· 43 Seats (23%) have competition between a Republican, Democrat or Independent

In order for the party control to change in the House, Democrats must win 32 of 47 competitive races. In order to hold their majority, Republicans must win 17 of 43 competitive races.

Summary:

138 seats with no competitive race in the general election (77% of total)
42 seats with a choice on the ballot (23%)