Fayette County stands to be

split into two U.S. congressional districts under the redistricting map

forwarded to the Georgia Senate Tuesday by its Reapportionment Committee.

Fayette also will lose its incumbent congressman, Mac Collins.

Northeast Fayette would become

part of the new 13th District along with parts of Cobb, Fulton, Douglas,

Clayton, Henry, Rockdale, Newton and Gwinnett counties. The remainder

of Fayette would be included in the 7th District along with portions of

Coweta, Troup and Spalding counties.

Neither district would have

an incumbent congressman as such, because the 13th is a new district and

the current 7th District congressman, Rep. Bob Barr, does not live within

the proposed district lines. But U.S. representatives are not required

to live within the districts they represent.

Under the new map, the 3rd

District of Rep. Mac Collins would be shifted to the eastern Atlanta area.

Collins currently represents at least a part of Coweta, Fayette, Spalding,

Muscogee, Talbot, Harris, Meriwether, Pike, Clayton and Henry counties,

though he actually lives in Butts County.

State Sen. Mitch Seabaugh called

the congressional map "a slap in the face to our communities."

"In the public hearings

we had, people overwhelmingly asked for compact districts that protected

communities of interest," Seabaugh said. "This map is just another

example of political power that is exercised for self-interests, not the

interests of the communities of Georgia and its citizens."

Sen. Greg Hecht, a Democrat

who represents north Fayette and is a member of the Senate Reapportionment

Committee, said it's too early to get excited about the map, because the

House will have its own version, and a conference committee will write

the final story.

But he said splitting counties

and communities between districts is "good for any county."

Two representatives doubles the number of committees the county would

be represented on, he said, in effect doubling its influence.

Also, he said, people in different

parts of a county often should have different representatives. "I

would say there are distinct differences of opinion between north Fayette

and south Fayette," he said.

Seabaugh, who represents parts

of Fayette and Spalding counties along with all of Coweta, criticized

the redistricting process as shutting out public opinion.

"The citizens of Georgia,

the very people who are to be served by the members elected from these

districts, have not been given the time to review and comment on these

maps, or on the compromise map that will come out of the conference committee,"

Seabaugh said.

Seabaugh said he is eager to

discover the reaction of current Georgia congressmen to the proposed redistricting

plan.

Seabaugh also criticized state

leaders for drumming up interest in the video poker machine issue to distract

citizens from the redistricting issues.

"The governor and lieutenant

governor all of a sudden jumped onto this issue and they're trying to

divert attention from redistricting and the flag vote," Seabaugh

claimed.

In other news related to the

redistricting, Hecht has made no secret of the fact he hopes to run for

Congress in a new district favorable to him. The map being considered

are likely to be made."

Though he is not formally a

candidate for Congress, Hecht has begun fund-raising efforts.

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