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Federal panel signs off 61’ legislative redistricting
DICK PETTYS
litical Writer
ATLANTA (AP) — A three
dé federal panel signed off
mrsday, March 25 on redis
i maps it ordered drawn
ndently for the Georgia
lature after lawmakers
iled to draw new maps for
Ives.
e three judges ordered
efstate to “promptly imple
" the maps for this year’s
Drawn for the court under
- direction of former U.S.
urt of Appeals Judge Joseph
Hatcherr, the maps will
lace those drawn by law
s in 2001 and used in
cfl_QOOZ elections but invali
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jcKinney announces
id to reclaim her
ongressional seat
RECATUR, Ga. (AP) _
ogmer Congresswoman Cyn
iaVicKinney, who claimed
mglicious crossover voting”
Y 4Repubicans caused her
eé}t\ two years ago,
unced Saturday, March
7 that she will try to reclaim
4th Congressional District
Rer :
eat_now held by Denise
ette.
cKinney lost the 2002
legflon in the Democratic
ri in August when
fublican crossover vores
lems fuming over comment
lottery board member
AFLANTA (AP) -
ngry that a member
f the politically neu
rakr,Georgia Lottery
oard took a swipe at
hé#r top elected offi
-la§‘, state Democrats
ré“¢alling for her to
estgn.
Bbard member
aZr:la Casey com
la&ned about Democ
at’l‘f" Lt. Gov. Mark
aylpr at a meeting
ast, month, implying
e is a demagogue.
“¥hat, if anything,
amecbe done about our
iewtenant governor
unaning for governor
n our backs?” Casey
aid, according to a
ranscript of the meet
ng.
Casey was appointed
dated last month by the court.
The court declared that the
maps violated the one person,
one vote principal by packing
too many voters in some
precincts and too few in oth
ers, essentially to keep the rural
Democrats who drew them in
power. s
Both sides claimed the
court-drawn maps give them
an edge going into this year’s
elections.
“Republicans now have an
opportunity to claim control
of the House, but they'll have
to earn it,” said Republican
Sen. Eric Johnson of Savan
nah, the president pro tem of
the Senate.
House Speaker Terry Cole
man, D-Eastman, insisted
help Majette win the nomina
tion with 77 percent of the
vote. Majette also easily won
election in the general election
that year.
McKinney had litde to say
about Majette in announcing
her intent to run again, instead
choosing to blast President
Bush.
“George Bush has given us
answers that don’t answer,
explanations that don't explain
and conclusions that don'
conclude,” she said.
by Republican Gov.
Sonny Perdue, and
Taylor is considering
running against Per
due in 2006. The two
have clashed all year
long about what to do
with the HOPE schol
arship, which is grow
ing faster than the lot
tery revenues that
bankroll it.
The lottery board is
supposed to worry
only about lottery
sales, not the political
implications of what
is done with the
money. Four of seven
members were
appointed by Perdue,
including Casey, who
donated $6,000 to the
governor’s campaign.
At a news conference
Democrats will keep, control
of the lower chiambes "
likc -; | . s
tu’ d”’i %1 o .
it,” he saidlr galkes 05 i
wield ‘a 1 ajority in thef'l -
The state’s pmfl"",s‘; uly
20. Qualifying opens 6n [l;3 z;
26.
State lawyers told the court
earlier this week it can imple
ment the plan without chang
ing those dates but may not be
able to comply with a rule
requiring absentee ballots to
be made available 45 days
before an election.
The old redistricting plan
was tossed out as a result of a
lawsuit filed by Republican
activists. Georgia lawmakers
Rep. Denise Majette jumps
into Democratic Senate race
By KRISTEN WYATT
Associated Press Writer
ATLANTA (AP) - Rep.
Denise Majette, a Democrat
elected two years ago in subur
ban DeKalb County, will seek
the U.S. Senate seat vacated by
Miller, Majette said Monday,
March 29.
Majette becomes the highest
profile Democrat to seck the
office. The party has struggled
to field a strong candidate,
while two Republican con
gressmen have been campaign
ing for nearly a year: Reps.
Johnny Isakson and Mac
Collins.
Majette conceded it is late to
dive into a statewide race. But
she said she felt moved to run as
a counter to GOP messages she
finds extreme.
“The Republicans keep trot
ting out their right-wing rheto
ricon God, guns and gays inan
attempt to divide the electorate
and distract from the serious
problems they're not address
ing,” she told reporters.
Majette is best known for
Tuesday, Democratic
Party head Bobby
Kahn called Casey a
“crony” for the gover
nor and said she
should resign for mak
ing “unacceptable”
comments.
Perdue’s aides quick
ly brushed of the
Democrats’ call to ask
Casey to resign.
Spokesman Dan
McLagan said the
practice of appointing
contributors to state
boards isn’t new, and
that Casey did noth
ing wrong.
Democratic criti
cisms of Perdue,
McLagan said, are
“getting lamer and
lamer.”
AUGUSTA FOCUS
P s puniage i d
Bt e Democ
map or one for the House w 0 2
vote.
One of the major stumbling
blocks for Democrats was
their desire to hang onto mul
timember districts, super-sized
districts from which up to four
legislators —many of them
black —were elected to num
bered posts.
Senate leaders along with
Perdue already had said they
would not approve any new
toppling former Rep. Cynthia
McKinney, another black
Democrat, in 2002. McKinney
was an outspoken opponent of
President Bush and even made
enemies in her own party, once
saying former Vice President Al
Gore had a low “Negro toler
ance level”
Majerte was a former state
court judge who portrayed her
self as a more diplomatic ver
sion of McKinney. Voters
agreed, choosing the little
known Majette with 59 per
cent of the vote in a primary.
Majette went on to win the
more than 70 percent.
Majette will face at least two
other Democrats, state Sens.
Mary Squires and Nadine
Thomas.
There are two other Republi
can candidates, former Godfa
ther's Pizza President Herman
Cain and Adanta businessman
Al Bartell.
Majerte said she will need to
raise $5 million to $lO million
to compete in the Senate race.
Its a tall order for a freshman
congreswoman with no
Former Atlanta Mayor Andrew
Young to be honored with statue
ATLANTA (AP) - An
Atlanta businessman is
teaming up with city
officials to honor former
mayor and United
Nations Ambassador
Andrew Young with a
statue in a downtown
park.
Charlie Loudermilk,
founder and chief execu
tive officer of Aaron
Rents, has pledged to
underwrite the redevel
opment of the triangular
park at the intersection
of Andrew Young Inter
national Boulevard and
Spring Street. Officials
estimate the project will
cost between $1 million
and $2 million.
Atlanta Mayor Shirley
Franklin announced a
multimember o
~day were not the ones init 1
makers.
The first proposal drew
sharp criticism from both par
ties during a period allowed
for public comment because
more than a third of incum
bent lawmakers found they
were paired with a fellow legis
lator.
The courts initial instruc
tions had been to draw maps
that did not consider where
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Congresswoman Denise Majette
statewide fund-raising net
work.
“I think she has a lot of things
to overcome,” said William
Bone, a political sciendist at
Clark Adanta University. “It
takes much money to run for
the United States Senate, and
shes going up against Republi
can contenders who are well
known in the state.”
Majette brushed aside
reporters questions about her
chances, saying she’s never let
“naysayers” stop her. She said
she didn't talk to Miller or the
state Democratic party before
deciding to run.
competition to design
Young’s statue Wednes
day, March 24 morning
at a meeting of Central
Atlanta Progress.
“I’s going to be the
best, because Andy
deserves the best,” said
Loudermilk, who was co
chairman of Young’s first
mayoral campaign in
1981.
Young, a noted civil
rights acrivist who
worked with the Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr.,
was the first modern-era
black congressman from
Georgia when he was
elected to the House of
Representatives in 1972,
He was then tapped by
President Jimmy Carter
to serve as U.S. ambassa-
April 1, 2004
incumbents lived. It subse
‘quently reversed that position
5o that the final map leaves
only about 40 paired incum
bents, down from nearly 90.
- In Thursdays order, the
court said it was satisfied that
the decision to take some
incumbents out of competi
tion with others was handled
“on a consistent and stricly
neutral basis” in the final
drawing of the map.
The governors spokesman,
Dan Mclagan, praised the
new maps. “The stain of the
Democratic gerrymandering
has finally been washed away.
These maps are fair and thar’s
all we ever asked for or needed.
It’s a great day for Georgia and
democracy.”
“I don't need anybody’s bless
ing,” she said, then acknowl
are foundering on this race. “If
the Democratic party leader
ship here had their act together,
they wouldn' be in this situa
tion.”
Majette’s Senate candidacy
throws open the door for
McKinney, who has said she
will run again for her old
House seat.
Majette said she has talked
with possible Democratic
replacements to run against
McKinney, but none has
announced for the race.
J o
Andrew Young
dor to the United
Nations in 1976.
Since leaving the may
oral office in 1989,
Young has co-chaired the
Atlanta Committee for
the Olympic Games and
started his own consult
ing company, Good
Works International.
3A