Legislative Candidates Open To Independent Redistricting Body

All four of the candidates seeking to represent Oconee County in the Georgia House of Representatives when redistricting will be considered say they are open to turning the process over to an independent commission.

Marcus Wiedower, the Republican currently representing House District 119, gave the most guarded response, saying “If there is a push and acceptance for a third party, I’m fine with that.” Wiedower said “I want to stay, quite frankly, as far away from that subject as I can.”

Houston Gaines, the Republican currently representing House District 117, said “I’d rather there be some sort of, maybe, some computer” do the work to remove “human nature” from the process. “So we’ll continue to look at proposals, certainly open to them,” he added.

Jonathan Wallace, the Democrat seeking to be elected in the House 119 race, said the legislature should be transparent if it does the redistricting but “I would love to see that happen if it be in the hand of an independent body.”

Mokah Jasmine Johnson, the Democrat candidate in House District 117, was unequivocal, saying “I definitely think it should be turned over to an independent body in order for us to have fair representation and to have a fair voting system.”

The four were participating in separate interviews conducted by reporters at WUGA in which the four candidates in Tuesday's election were asked “Do you believe that the Georgia General Assembly can draw fair districts, or should redistricting be turned over to an independent body?”

The interviews, conducted early last month and available online at Athens News Matters, lasted about 10 minutes each and covered other topics, including legalization of recreational marijuana and gun control.

For more on the story, please click through to Oconee County Observations.