All I can say is thank goodness for these AJC maps.

Sure, the Georgia legislature released their proposed new district maps last week, but it took a while before anyone really understood the implications.  I thought about just throwing up the map and letting the more geo-politically minded explain the changes, but I figured someone would give me a nice, sweet little summary for Decatur/DeKalb that I could point to.  Well, now it’s days later, and here’s the best thing I’ve found thus far - interactive AJC maps, where RED represents a “contested district” (two incumbents now represent the same district), yellow notes “new representation”, and green means the district remains unchanged.

Not a lot of green in ol’ Decatur when it comes to the House maps, as you can see from the above.  The “contested” area in red is a new vertical district, where Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield’s district has been combined with Howard Mosby’s district to the south.  Stuckey-Benfield said last week that her district had been “targeted by the Republican redistricting process” and that seems to have played out.

Elsewhere around Decatur, Mary Margaret Oliver would soon only represent a portion of the northwest part of the city (when before she represented most of the northside), while Rahn Mayo, who’s current district (PDF) is almost all south of I-20 would represent the largest % of Decatur voters, taking over the entire east side of the city.  Rep. Stacey Abrams’ 84th district, who currently represents the southeast corner of the city would be shifted to the west and out of the city entirely.

Of course, all of this is pending a federal court battle, due to the Voting Rights Act, but unless the Obama Justice Department decides to reject the maps, this seems to be the new political reality.

Oh!  And here are the Senate maps in case you’re interested, though for Decatur residents, Jason Carter’s District 42 continues to represent all of of the City of Decatur.