MARIETTA, Ga. — A civil rights lawsuit filed against Cobb County claims politicians gerrymandered the board of education districts – ensuring a Republican majority in a county that has supported Democrats in the last two presidential elections.
Cobb County has elected Democrats to run the county government, the sheriff’s office, the district attorney’s office – but Republicans to run the school board.
The school board has made news this year by banning a few books and firing a teacher for reading a book to her fifth grade class that addressed gender stereotypes.
In a county that supported Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden for president, the school board has been a political anomaly – illegally so, said a civil rights lawsuit which accuses Republicans of drawing districts that marginalize voters of color, who tend to vote for Democrats.
"We believe this map is a racial gerrymander. We believe voters of color in Cobb County were packed into three of the (seven) districts," said Caitlin Mace, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, who is among the plaintiffs.
The Cobb school board has seven districts.
- Districts six, two and three have nonwhite majorities and are represented by Democrats.
- Districts one, four and five are Republican and majority white.
- In 2020, a Democrat nearly unseated a Republican in district seven.
So in 2022, Republicans re-drew the districts to move more voters of color out of district seven and into districts six, two and three, the lawsuit alleges.
"The plan creates potentially three minority opportunity voting districts," said state Rep. Ginny Ehrhart (R-Marietta) told the House chamber on February 14, 2022, encouraging them to support the plan.
Ehrhart told the House the map was drawn equitably and legally. But Democrats complained they’d been left out -- even though more Democrats than Republicans now represent Cobb County in the legislature
"Was the map subject of any public hearings? No. Did you consult with other members of your delegation? No," said state Rep. Shea Roberts (D-Atlanta) after Ehrhart spoke.
The Republican legislature approved the map over the objection of Democrats. Now, the lawsuit seeks to have a judge to throw out the map — and order new elections for next year.
In a statement after the lawsuit was filed, Ehrhart wrote: "This is an unabashed political ploy. The parties bringing this suit, along with the Democratic Party in Cobb, want to gain a Democrat majority on the school board. It's as simple as that. The current 4-3 Republican majority on the board has thwarted their attempts to introduce a highly progressive social agenda into our schools They want control so they default to the race card. I drafted this bill. I assure you, there was no racially motivated gerrymandering of any kind."