Both parties guilty of gerrymandering for unfair advantage
Re: the AJC Nov. 14 story, “Dems’ gerrymandering complaints bring unified GOP response: Remember 2001!”, readers may benefit from a more complete view of the last 20 years of gerrymandering.
While it is true that the 2001 maps drawn by Democrats were heavily gerrymandered, so were the maps drawn by Republicans in 2011. These maps produced a supermajority in the General Assembly despite Republicans winning a declining statewide vote share in 2012.
Republicans claim that the 2011 maps were fair because they were pre-cleared by the Obama Justice Department and never challenged in court. Readers should know that the state House and Congressional maps drawn in 2001 were also pre-cleared. Nonetheless, the court overturned those maps. Pre-clearance by itself does not always guarantee fairness. Nor does the lack of a court challenge.
The bottom line is that both parties put their thumb on the scale to gain an unfair advantage. This must stop.
KEN LAWLER, CHAIRMAN, FAIR DISTRICTS GA
Perdue challenge would be winning scenario for Democrats
Former GOP Sen. David Perdue is considering a primary challenge to Gov. Brian Kemp. If this happens, it will create a split GOP, making way for Stacey Abrams to be elected as the Democratic challenger if she chooses to run.
Perdue lost to Democrat Jon Ossoff in the U.S. Senate runoff. A Kemp-Perdue runoff will shatter the GOP primary, with the winner alienating half of the Republican votes. If Kemp wins, supposedly Trump supporters will stay home; if Purdue wins, moderates will more than likely vote for Abrams. As we know, Trump shows no loyalty to anyone, even Gov. Kemp, who previously supported him. The governor rightly refused to go along with Trump’s claim that the Georgia election was fraudulent and should be overturned, adding him to Trump’s long list of former allies-turned-enemies. Regardless, it’s a winning scenario for Democrats in Georgia.
LARRY TAMBLYN, NEWNAN
