Bulloch County representatives in the Georgia House probably will get new numbers to their districts, but proposed reapportionment maps released Friday show local incumbent Republicans Jan Tankersley, Butch Parrish and Jon Burns still will speak for Bulloch residents in Atlanta.
Legislative leaders released the proposed maps on the General Assembly website in advance of the special session set to begin Monday. The first public hearings on the maps are set for Tuesday.
It's the first time Georgia Republicans are in control of redistricting from start to finish. Democrats vow to oppose the GOP plans, which they claim unfairly target some of their members. Four of the 10 House matchups pit white Democrats against their black colleagues.
Tankersley, who currently represents District 158 but could possibly be changed to District 160, said she is pleased with the proposed redistricting and doesn’t expect her area to change much at all should the proposal pass.
“It’s been a very thorough and fair process,” she said.
The entire redistricting efforts have been “open and transparent,” with public meetings seeking citizen input, and “the map is sensible,” she said. “It’s been more open to the public than it has ever been.”
Republican leaders said the maps comply with the landmark civil rights law designed to protect minority voting interests. They argue the process has been more open and transparent than in previous years when Democrats were in control.
Redistricting is required every 10 years to adjust to new census data.
The proposed maps come after 12 meetings held across the state by the Legislature's joint redistricting committee, where lawmakers spent the summer gathering public input on the issue. Committee leaders also met with lawmakers to discuss their districts.

Tankersley’s district
If the redistricting map stays as it is proposed, some Republican representatives may find themselves running against other Republicans for their districts in the future, but
Tankersley’s district and others in the Bulloch area won’t change drastically, she said.
“I’ll still have Northern Bryan County, and will probably pick up a couple of precincts where I did not have before but people thought they could vote for me anyway,” she said. From her interpretation of the proposed map, she could pick up areas near Register and possibly the Ogeechee Technical and East Georgia college areas as well.
The process is still in initial stages and the proposal will have to be voted on, she said. Tankersley said she is unsure whether the redistricting will be approved and in effect by the 2012 elections.
State Sen. Jack Hill (R-4) would continue to represent all of Bulloch County in the proposed State Senate map.

Districts drawn
The joint committee office has been a flurry of activity in the weeks leading up to redistricting. To give members privacy, the windows of the office have been blacked out and redistricting guidelines shield their research from the public record. Some legislators were getting their first look at the maps Friday.
Senate leaders said Friday their plan was based on input from 51 of the 55 currently-serving senators. It splits 38 of Georgia's 159 counties and less than 50 precincts.
Two incumbents are pitted against each other: Democratic Sens. George Hooks of Americus — the dean of the Georgia Senate — and Freddie Powell Sims of Dawson. In 2001, 10 of the 24 Republican incumbents were paired to run against each other — more than 40 percent of the caucus.
Georgia, now the country's ninth largest state, gained more than 1 million residents and picks up a congressional seat this year. The congressional redistricting map has not yet been released.
The new seat is likely to be created in north Georgia in response to the region's population boom. Also bolstering the case for gains in North Georgia: The region is home to the state's three top Republicans, Gov. Nathan Deal, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and House Speaker David Ralston. South Georgia saw huge population losses, which will result in a loss of representation for the region.

Southwest Georgia concerns
The House proposal would eliminate four GOP seats in south Georgia, pitting eight Republicans against each other throughout the region. Among those facing off are a pair of party swappers who this year jumped ship to Republican ranks in an attempt to save their political hides.
Roger Boatright, chairman of the Bacon County board of commissioners in southeast Georgia, said he worries fewer south Georgia lawmakers will mean fewer state dollars and less attention on issues important to the area, like agriculture.
"We're losing our voice in Atlanta," Boatright said. He also said that with south Georgia districts growing larger geographically it will be increasingly difficult for legislators to reach all their constituents.
"It affects their ability to get to know people, it affects those relationships," he said. Lawmakers have budgeted $3.9 million for redistricting session, predicting it will take legislators four weeks to adopt the maps. Some of that money is also going to the law firm of Anne Lewis, who is serving as lead counsel on redistricting and also works for the state Republican Party.
Because Georgia is under the jurisdiction of the Voting Rights Act, the maps must be approved by either the U.S. Department of Justice or the federal courts once they are adopted by state lawmakers.
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Online:Georgia Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office: http://www.legis.ga.gov/Joint/reapportionment/en-US/default.aspx