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Congressional
district races will change
make-up of Gwinnett House representation
By Elliott Brack
editor and publisher
GwinnettForum.com
JULY 16, 2002 - - Just how influential is Gwinnett in the upcoming
Congressional races? We'll take a look at how many people are registered
to vote in the various Congressional districts and get an idea.
First, a look at the total number registered to vote
in Gwinnett.
The number of people who registered to vote in the upcoming primary
has exceeded the 2000 totals, which was 232,917. New totals on Monday
showed a record 306,487 persons are registered to vote in the August
20 primary, Superintendent and Registrar Lynn Ledford reports. The
deadline to register is July 22, less than a week from now, so this
total is expected to grow.
There were 244,628 persons registered to vote in 1998. Since that
time, some voters have been purged from the voter's list for not
voting.
Now to address district make up. (Figures used here are as of July
1, when 236,910 people were registered.)
Congressional District .........Voters Registered
4............................................10,940
7........................................207,7656
10..........................................27,132
13..........................................60,660
DISTRICT 4: This is a five-precinct area hard by DeKalb
County. The current Congressman is Cynthia McKinney, who is being
opposed by Judge Denise Majette in the Democratic primary.
Three Republicans are also seeking this race. They are Catherine
Davis, 50, from Stone Mountain; Barbara Pereira, 39, of Dunwoody;
and Cynthia Van Auken, 53, of Dunwoody.
However, note that Gwinnett has only 10,940 people in this district,
the smallest representation of any of the four districts within
the county.
DISTRICT 7: This odd-shaped district has the most voters
of any Congressional district within the county. It is also getting
the most attention, as two incumbent Republicans, John Linder and
Bob Barr, fight to retain a seat in Congress.
However, there is another candidate, a Democrat who is Michael
Berlon, 42, a Duluth attorney.
At over 200,000 votes, this means that Gwinnett represents approximately
a third of this vast district. (With 8,206,975 people in Georgia,
and 13 districts, that means an ideal Congressional district would
total 631,291 people.)
No doubt Candidate Bob Barr is giving much attention to Gwinnett
since it represents such a big portion of the area John Linder previously
represented. The entire Gwinnett area is new, of course, to Mr.
Barr.
DISTRICT 10: This is, of course, a coast for Incumbent Republican
Nathan Deal of Gainesville, the only candidate to enter this race.
In Gwinnett he represents 27,132 voters. He can probably represent
this district as long as he wants in Congress, as presently drawn.
DISTRICT 13: If the 7th District is awkward, the new District
13 wins the cake for the most unusually-drawn district, one which
you must conclude is the most gerrymandered. This district juts
a nose into the center of Gwinnett, then meanders along its southern
border, then takes off in all sorts of directions, ending up on
the west side of Atlanta, by virtually skirting I-285 southward
to get there.
And it is the second largest of Gwinnett's Congressional areas,
totaling 60,660 voters.
There are six candidates. Democrats running include Greg Hecht,
a 48-year-old state senator from Forest Park; Donzella James, a
54-year-old state senator from Atlanta; Embry Malone, a 48-year-old
business consultant from Stone Mountain, David Scott, 58, a former
state senator from Atlanta; and David Worley, 43, an attorney and
former chairman of the Georgia Democratic Party, from Jonesboro.
A lone Republican, Clay Cox, 33, of Lilburn, also seeks the seat.
Note that Gwinnett will account for about 10 per cent of the population
of this strangely-drawn District.
* * * *
As to what could happen in the 2002 Congressional races, Gwinnett
is presently represented by two Republicans (Linder and Johnny Isakson)
and one Democrat (McKinney.) Odds makers feel that the Fourth and
Thirteenth district will probably go Democratic, while the 7th and
obviously the 10th will be Republican. So the Gwinnett representation
in Congress will be split.
For sure, where Gwinnett, with population at 588,448 people in
2000, might nearly form an entire Congressional district of its
own, soon we will be split four ways. It's our job to make the most
of it.
ADDITIONALLY…
Beaver Ruin facility to house Career Center
A small item in the July 12 edition of GwinnettForum mentioned
that the Georgia Department of Labor would lease 10,000 square feet
at the 2211 Beaver Ruin Road location. GwinnettForum has learned
that the facility will be used as a Career Center. Additional information
will be available soon
FEEDBACK
7/16: Business activity creates new terms
Editor, the Forum:
We must at least laugh some. Here are new definitions of time-honored
accounting practices, which we have learned from the last few weeks
business activity.
- GAAP = generally avoided accounting practices.
- FRS = fantasy reporting standards.
- Ebitda = earnings before interest, tax, depreciation
and auditors.
- Ebit = earnings before irregularities and tampering.
- NAV = normal Andersen valuation.
- CEO = Chief Embezzlement Officer.
- CFO = Corporate Fraud Officer.
- P/E = parole entitlement.
- EPS = eventual prison sentence.
- - Dean Booth, Atlanta
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
What such a nation
is really afraid of
"A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth
and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its
people."
--- John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 1962.
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