Cobb Elections to use disputed maps in primary qualifying

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When qualifying for May primary elections takes place next week, the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration will honor county-approved county commission redistricting maps at the heart of a continuing legal dispute.

Proposed Cobb commission redistricting map
District 2 lines (in pink) that Cobb commission Democrats approved will be used for primary qualifying next week.

The five-member appointed elections board announced Friday that the maps to be used for qualifying for commission races will be those that were approved by the three Democrats on the Cobb Board of Commissioners in October 2022.

They did that in claiming a “home rule” exemption that a Cobb judge last month ruled was unconstitutional, and that the county is appealing.

The Georgia Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case on April 17, but primary ballots have to be printed well before that.

In its announcement Friday, the Cobb elections board said that while candidates in partisan races qualify via their respective local political party offices, “parties and citizens have requested guidance from the Board as to which maps are to be used for qualifying at this time when multiple redistricting lawsuits are still pending in various stages of appeal.”

The board said the “home rule map” for commission districts “remains in place because the [Cobb Superior] Court’s ruling was stayed . . . ”

The board concluded after conferring with its legal counsel that, “out of an abundance of caution, the Home Rule Map should be used and that it ‘remains ready to implement any further direction from the courts on this matter.’ ”

That decision will affect potential candidates in East Cobb.

Three seats on the county commission—the countywide-elected chair, District 4 in South Cobb and District 2 in Smyrna and parts of East Cobb—are on the 2024 ballot.

Current commissioner Jerica Richardson, a first-term Democrat, was drawn out of her East Cobb home in District 2 in maps approved in 2022 by the Republican-led Georgia legislature, which placed most of East Cobb in District 3, represented by GOP member JoAnn Birrell.

Richardson has since announced her candidacy for the 6th Congressional District, which includes some of south Cobb.

Five Democrats, including former Cobb legislative delegation chairman State Rep. Erick Allen and former Cobb school board member Jaha Howard, have declared their intent to run in District 2 as Democrats.

Also among the Democratic hopefuls is Kevin Redmon, a former Richardson community advisor who lives in District 3 according to the legislative-approved maps. He has declared his intent to run in districts 2 and 3.

No Republicans have announced for District 2 thus far.

New Cobb school board maps shifted the lines for Post 5 (in purple) to include Pope and Walton attendance zones and exclude some of the Wheeler zone.

The Cobb elections board statement Friday said that for Cobb Board of Education qualifying, it will honor recently redrawn maps by the legislature that were ordered by a federal court, and since there is no pending challenge to it.

Those maps redrew part of East Cobb. Post 5, which is on the ballot this year, was redrawn to include most of the Walton and Pope attendance zones, while much of the Wheeler zone was placed in Post 6. Post 4, which includes most of the Kell, Lassiter and Sprayberry zones, was not affected.

Thus far, Democrat Laura Judge and Republican John Cristadoro, both parents in the Walton zone, have announced for Post 5, where four-term Republican incumbent David Banks is not seeking re-election.

Four of the seven school board posts are up for election this year, including two of the other three posts held by Republicans. The GOP has held a 4-3 majority since 2019, while Democrats control close majorities on the commission and the county legislative delegation.

The Cobb elections board also said Friday it will honor Congressional and legislative maps passed in January and that were ordered by a federal court.

The board appointments are 4-1 Democrats, with Debbie Fisher of East Cobb the appointee of the Cobb Republican Party.

Primary qualifying takes place Monday, March 4-Thursday, March 7 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Friday, March 8, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Partisan candidates will qualify at their local party office, and non-partisan candidates will qualify at the Cobb Elections office (955 Roswell St., Marietta).

More qualifying information can be found by clicking here.

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