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Trying to Thread the Needle: The Effects of Redistricting in a Georgia Congressional District

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 September 2009

M. V. Hood III  and
Seth C. McKee
M. V. Hood III
Affiliation:
University of Georgia
Seth C. McKee
Affiliation:
University of South Florida, St. Petersburg
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Abstract

In 2005 the Republican-controlled General Assembly redrew Georgia's congressional districts in order to gain additional seats in the 2006 midterm election. In this article we present a case study of the effects of redistricting on turnout and vote choice in Georgia's District 8 in the 2006 U.S. House election. It is apparent both from our findings and an elite interview, that unlike the more aggressive strategy employed by Texas Republicans in 2003, Georgia Republicans tried to thread the needle in their goal of winning District 8. Conventional wisdom suggests that if a political party controls redistricting it will maximize its electoral opportunities. But this was not the case in Georgia.

Type
Features
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 42 , Issue 4 , October 2009 , pp. 679 - 687
Copyright
Copyright © The American Political Science Association 2009

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