A Congressional map proposes that Madison County get a new representative in the U.S. House that will come from the 9th District — which will cover most of Northeast Georgia in the state’s mountain region.
Madison County is currently part of the 10th Congressional District — served by Paul Broun, a Republican who lives in Athens.
Under the proposal, the 10th Congressional District would shift more to middle Georgia and pick up Barrow County along the way. Barrow County is currently served by Rob Woodall in the 7th Congressional District.
The new 9th Congressional District would include more counties in Northeast Georgia, while dropping counties in Northwest Georgia, such as Dade, Walker and Catoosa counties, near Dalton and Ringgold.
The 9th District is currently held by Republican Tom Graves, who was sworn into Congress in June 2010, after a special election. Before that, Nathan Deal held the seat for a number of years prior to his successful gubernatorial campaign.
The revamped 9th Congressional District will absorb all of Madison, Jackson, Banks, Hall, Lumpkin and other Northeast Georgia counties. It will also include portions of Forsyth, Pickens and Athens-Clarke counties.
However, Graves lives in Gordon County, which would shift to the 14th Congressional District under the proposed map.
With the 2012 election, the redrawn 9th Congressional District would be available for a new representative, if Graves decides to not seek another term for that district. Federal law only requires that U.S. representatives be a citizen of the state they serve — not the district.
As for state House and Senate maps, those proposals were approved by legislators Aug. 22.
All of Madison County is currently represented by Frank Ginn (R-Danielsville) in the 47th state senate district. That won’t change with the new map. However, District 47 will be altered. The new voting lines for that district would include all of Madison and Barrow counties, along with the southern portion of Jackson County and western Athens-Clarke County.
In the state House, Rep. Alan Powell (R-Hartwell) and Rep. Tom McCall (R-Elberton) will continue to serve as Madison County’s representatives under the proposed map.
The U.S. Department of Justice is expected to rule on the proposed maps before the 2012 election. Georgia is one several states that must follow the Voting Rights Act and submit its voting district maps for federal clearance.
