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| GA State Sen Hardie Davis Jr |
Saturday, Feb. 18, 2012
Augusta, GA
From CityStink.net Reports
There is a bill moving along in the Georgia legislature that would move State Sen. Bill Jackson's solidly Republican, Columbia County-centered district into portions of West Richmond County. The ramifications of this would be dramatic for Democrats in Richmond County, who would be in the minority with 2 Republican state senators representing Richmond County (Jesse Stone and Bill Jackson) and 1 Democrat (State Sen. Hardie Davis, Jr).
The current set-up for the Richmond County delegation has 2 state senators.. one Republican (Stone) and one Democrat (Davis), creating a balance of power where either one can block legislation of the other. Sen Hardie Davis, Jr sees this change as attempt for Republicans to take over control of the politics in Richmond County which is majority African-American and Democratic. Sen. Davis sent out a terse statement vowing to fight the change, including getting the US Justice department involved. We have printed that statement below. In related redistricting news, Rep. Barbara Sims, has introduced a bill that would move Augusta non-partisan commission races from the November General election ballot to the July primary ballot
STATEMENT: Sen. Hardie Davis - Redistricting of 24th Senate District into Richmond County
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact:
Natalie Dale, Director
Jennifer Yarber, Deputy Director
jennifer.yarber@senate.ga.gov
404.656.0028
Statement from Sen. Hardie Davis Regarding Georgia Redistricting
ATLANTA (February 17, 2012) – Sen. Hardie Davis (D-Augusta) has offered the following statement regarding the Senate Redistricting Committee’s decision to draw the 24th Senate District into Richmond County:
“This disingenuous and extremely polarizing move was done without any input from the residents of Richmond County, or the duly and legally elected legislative delegation. I am disappointed to witness decades of progress destroyed by a few elitists who believe they know best simply because of their wealth. Richmond County has spent many years working to move away from divisive racial politics in favor of a united, cohesive community working together to promote economic and social progress. This misguided and unethical political ploy will negatively impact Richmond County by undoing decades of accomplishments.
This untimely effort is nothing more than an attempt to dilute the voting strength of the citizens of Augusta by inserting another Republican legislator from Columbia County into its legislative delegation. More outrageous is the knowledge that the proposed new map is the direct result of efforts by members of Augusta's own business community who believe in controlling every aspect of the city. In counties like Richmond, Fulton, Dekalb and Bibb—counties recognized as Democratic strongholds in Georgia and predominantly African American—the Republican-controlled legislature has taken aggressive steps like this to weaken the African-American vote.
Augusta cannot stand quiet and allow backroom deals and underhanded tactics to prevail without public scrutiny. These actions further polarize the Augusta community and set it back 50 years.
I pledge to fight this effort by all means available, including petitioning the United States Department of Justice to intervene. I further pledge to continue my work on behalf of the constituents of District 22 with nothing less than the utmost respect and dedication.”
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Sen. Hardie Davis currently serves as the Chairman of the Interstate Cooperation Committee. He represents the 22nd district which includes part of Richmond County. He may be reached by phone at404.656.0340 or by email at hardie.davis@senate.ga.gov.
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