MARIETTA — Whether Georgia counties can draw their own district maps was debated at a Monday hearing in the lawsuit over the Cobb County Board of Commissioners map.
Following more than two hours of debate, Cobb Superior Court Judge Ann Harris said she hoped to issue a ruling on that question by the end of the year.
The lawsuit was originally filed by Republican Commissioner Keli Gambrill against the county, in response to the commission’s Democratic majority invoking its home rule powers last October to redraw their own district lines.
The home rule resolution was a novel legal gambit to keep Democratic Commissioner Jerica Richardson in office. A map passed by the Republican-controlled state legislature and signed into law last year by Gov. Brian Kemp drew Richardson out of her district.
In August, Harris ruled that while Gambrill did not have standing to sue, two Cobb residents who were added as plaintiffs — Catherine and David Floam — do have standing.
The Floams previously lived in Gambrill’s District 1, but now reside in Commissioner JoAnn Birrell’s District 3 as a result of the county’s maps. As the only remaining plaintiffs, the Floams are asking Harris to declare the county’s map null, void and unconstitutional, and declare the legislature’s map legal and binding.
“This will lead to more than just Cobb County voters being harmed, it will open the door up for any county in Georgia to undermine the General Assembly,” said Ray Smith, a lawyer for the Floams….
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