Jon Ossoff may be gerrymandered to defeat: Georgia Republican admits the district was "not drawn for" Democrats to win

One Georgia state senator explained the dirty tactics Republicans have used to maintain control of their state

Published April 18, 2017 11:01PM (EDT)

Jon Ossoff   (AP/Bill Barrow/Getty/Shutterstock/Salon)
Jon Ossoff (AP/Bill Barrow/Getty/Shutterstock/Salon)

Republicans have done everything they can to hold onto the state of Georgia, including rigging elections with dirty gerrymandering tactics. And now ahead of the special election for Georgia's sixth congressional district, one Republican lawmaker is openly citing such maneuvers to calm Republican nerves.

Republican state Sen. Fran Millar seemed to accidentally admit to redistricting tactics that will ensure a Republican is victorious in the district in Tuesday's special election -- and into the foreseeable future.

“I’ll be very blunt: These lines were not drawn to get Hank Johnson’s protégé to be my representative. And you didn’t hear that,” Millar said, comparing the district to a majority African-American district represented by a Democrat, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “They were not drawn for that purpose, OK? They were not drawn for that purpose.”

Aside from Millar's open boasting, Georgian Republicans are hardly hiding the fact that they are vigorously attempting to tilt elections in their favor.

A bill was introduced by Republicans in the state legislature in March that would kick black voters out of numerous GOP districts and replace them with white voters. The bill was introduced only days before it was passed, a process that generally takes weeks or months. The bill also changes district boundaries for eight Republicans and one Democrat. That one Democrat alleges she was never told of the bill until it was introduced.

“This bill was introduced at the 11th hour without the courtesy of informing me of what was going on in the district I represent,” Jones said, according to myAJC. “Regardless of the party, notice is fair and customary.”

Though the bill has since been tabled in the state senate, after immense criticism and likely violation of the Voting Rights Act, it illustrates the types of methods Republicans in Georgia are using to maintain control over the state.

During the general election in November Trump struggled in Georgia's sixth district, winning by just one percentage point. Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff, by comparison, has drawn some pretty high poll numbers for Tuesday's special election to replace Republican Tom Price. Currently, Ossoff is just short of the 50 percent majority needed to win.

But remember, as Millar even said himself, the lines were drawn against Democrats.


By Charlie May

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