By: State Sen. Greg Goggans
ATLANTA (November 13, 2009) –
A Closer Look at the 7th Georgia Senate District
During my five years as state Senator, I have had the wonderful opportunity to travel across southern Georgia and meet some truly fantastic people. It reminds me of how fortunate I am to represent the great people of our district in Atlanta. I work every day to make the best decisions for the entire state, but I also want to ensure our district has a strong voice at the Capitol.
Every Senate district is unique in its own way and I wanted to take time to paint a picture of what the 7th Senate District looks like now and what the future may hold after the 2010 Census.
A short history of the state Senate might help better understand how this district came to be. The Georgia General Assembly was founded in 1777. Much like we see in Washington, the state Senate was designed to be a smaller, more deliberative body with each member serving a greater number of constituents in relation to the House of Representatives. The Georgia Constitution mandates a maximum of 56 Senators appointed from single-member districts, meaning only one Senator per district. This compared to the minimum 180-member House whose members represent a slightly smaller constituency at the Capitol. Each Senate district is designed for an elected Senator to represent an equal number of citizens based on the most recent Census and are zoned accordingly. Currently each state Senator represents approximately 150,000 citizens based on the 2000 Census.
The 7th District is the largest state Senate district by land area totaling over 4,500 square miles. That means this district covers 1/12th of the state and makes it almost as large as the State of Connecticut! To compare, the smallest state Senate district (39th) is over 100 times smaller than the 7th at 36 square miles. While many districts include only a few cities and parts of counties, the 7th District represents over twenty cities and all or part of ten counties.
Every county in the 7th District maintains a strong Republican majority through last year’s elections. The chart below illustrates a county-by-county breakdown of the 7th District’s political demographics:
County 2008 Population Est. Democrats* GOP*
Atkinson 8,181 32% 67%
Bacon 10,442 21% 78%
Berrien 17,058 23% 76%
Clinch 7,060 37% 62%
Coffee 40,527 35% 64%
Cook (City of Lenox) 16,608 (897) 35% 64%
Echols 4,063 17% 83%
Lanier 8,277 37% 62%
Pierce 18,277 18% 81%
Ware 35,879 32% 67%
*Based on 2008 Presidential Election Results as published by the Georgia Secretary of State
As with many things in life, nothing ever truly stays the same and the same can be said for our district’s makeup. As many of you know the 2010 Census is quickly approaching and based on the results there is a strong likelihood that Georgia will see some changes at the national and state level. With metro Atlanta (“North Georgia”) one of the fastest-growing regions in the country, our state has a chance to pick up several new Congressional seats in the north Georgia area. That will likely have a domino effect in the state legislature’s districts as the Georgia Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee would have to rezone Senate districts to reflect the new numbers. This means South Georgia may lose a state Senate seat to metro Atlanta as population growth is heaviest there and the legislature needs to accurately represent its citizens. Even though the 7th Senate District is the largest, it will probably grow even larger after the district lines are redrawn.
Again, I want to thank everyone in my district for the chance to serve you all as your state Senator.
Please remember to contact me in my office on the issues that are affecting you and your area. I am here to represent you and it is an honor for me to work on your behalf. As always, I’d like to thank members of the Senate staff, who contribute regularly to my column.
Sen. Greg Goggans represents the 7th Senate District, which includes Atkinson, Bacon, Berrien, Clinch, Coffee, Echols, Lanier, Pierce and Ware counties and a portion of Cook County.
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release:
November 13, 2009
For Information Contact:
Matt Colvin Communications Associate
matthew.colvin@senate.ga.gov
404.656.0028