The “Hill” Cobb’s Maps Died On

Yesterday, in what may have been the end in the seemingly never ending saga of Cobb County’s Home Rule maps, Superior Court Judge Kellie Hill denied a motion by the Cobb County Board of Commissioners to intervene in the case brought by Alicia Adams, a GOP candidate for County Commission District 2, who appealed her removal from the ballot by the Cobb Board of Elections after she qualified to run for the office. Adams lives in District 2 based on the County Commission map passed by the Georgia General Assembly, but not in the Home Rule map.

Back in July, Judge Hill ruled the County Commission exceeded its authority when it passed its own commission map in October 2022 and, in declaring the Home Rule map “unconstitutional” also ordered new elections for Districts 2 and 4.

The point of contention for Elizabeth Monyak, senior associate attorney for the Cobb County Commission, was the enormous costs (possibly as much as $1.5 million) associated with holding new primaries and a special general election for the two districts, as the primary has now been invalidated by Judge Hill and new primaries cannot occur in time to hold the general election at the same time as the November election.

As reported in the Marietta Daily Journal, “Ordering new elections is a drastic remedy to be reserved for the most egregious cases,” Monyak argued.

Judge Hill’s response was direct…”It is a drastic remedy, but it’s also a drastic move to change the county maps.”

We pointed out in June that the ordering of a new election is a drastic remedy, but one that is often the only remedy when elections are held under invalid districts, “Courts are typically reluctant to order new elections, but most cases where new elections are contemplated involve districts drawn by the legitimate authorities, but in violation of equal protection guidelines due to Gerrymandering. There is no precedent for an election in a district where one governmental authority used a new and novel legal theory to usurp the power from another governmental authority that has historically had the power to conduct redistricting.”

Monyak also brought up another false, though often articulated, claim made by supporters of the Home Rule map (and some Republicans who are looking for a loophole to remove a Democratic Commissioner), that by ordering a special election would leave the County Commission without District 2 Commissioner Jerica Richardson, who was drawn out of her district by the General Assembly and whose term expires at the end of 2024. and District 4 Commissioner, Monique Sheffield, who does live in her new district, but, like Richardson faces the end of her term of office at the end of the year. The county argued that not having new commissioners elected by the expiration of their terms would mean that there would be two vacant seats.

However, Hill also seemed to put that issue to rest as well stating, “Nothing in my order says that you’re going to have a three-person board. Nothing in my order says that two individuals will no longer be on the board. So, you’re making a leap that is not involved in my order.” 

The law passed by the Georgia General Assembly does, in fact, address this issue stating, “Those members of the Board of Commissioners of Cobb County who are serving as such on January 1, 2022, and any person selected to fill a vacancy in any such office shall continue to serve as such members until the regular expiration of their respective terms of office and upon the election and qualification of their respective successors” <emphasis added>.

While the County could appeal Judge Hill’s denial of the motion to intervene, communications from the County do not seem to indicate there is much of a will to continue what has been a long and costly process and multiple court battles.

The MDJ notes that “In an Aug. 8 email to the MDJ, the county communications team said Cobb would continue operating business under the home rule map until Hill issued rulings on its motions for intervention and reconsideration.”

While the County’s attorney is a salaried position, there is the outstanding question of attorney fees for Adams’s attorneys, a cost that would only increase if the County prolonged the case, though the County is likely to fight the request for attorney fees.

Sadly, the Democratic majority on the County Commission may not see any consequences. If the re-nomination of the Democratic Clerk of the Superior Court, winning a four-way Democratic Primary without a runoff despite accusation of incompetence and multiple scandals (which have only gotten worse), the political changes in Cobb County still make it Commission Chair Lisa Cupid’s race to lose. In 2020, Cupid defeated Republican Chairman Mike Boyce by 24,177 votes (53-47%) and a Democratic base reenergized by the Harris-Walz ticket may be enough to keep Cupid in office. The 2022 election results showed little hope for Cobb Republicans to hang on as even the extremely popular Brian Kemp lost Cobb County to Stacey Abrams.

However, Cobb voters do have a choice with Republican Commission Chair candidate Kay Morgan, but will the unnecessary chaos and expense caused by Cupid’s Map Crusade be enough cost her in November? We will see in November.