Court delays Perdue-Baker case

ATLANTA - Gov. Sonny Perdue's hopes of stopping a Democrat-drawn Senate-district map from coming back into play suffered a blow late Monday afternoon from the Georgia Supreme Court.

The court announced it had scheduled Mr. Perdue's case for May 6, a week after the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in favor of the map. Mr. Perdue wants the map appeal withdrawn and ordered Attorney General Thurbert Baker, a Democrat, to withdraw it.

When Mr. Baker refused, the Republican governor sued him in Fulton County Superior Court. The county judge ruled that Mr. Baker was right, and Mr. Perdue asked the state high court to consider the suit on a rush basis.

Mr. Perdue could prevail if the Georgia Supreme Court rules in his favor on the suit before the U.S. Supreme Court hands down its decision on the map. Of course, losing his suit against Mr. Baker wouldn't be a problem if the U.S. Supreme Court determines the district map violates the federal Voting Rights Act by diluting the power of black voters.

Republican activists have launched another legal challenge to the map because all the districts aren't exactly the same size. That challenge alleges the Democrats, who controlled the Legislature and governors office in 2001 when the map was drawn, violated a different provision of the Voting Rights Act. But that challenge still has to make its way through the courts.

The map is important because it would be used in next year's elections if the U.S. Supreme Court upholds it. It would automatically replace the current district map, the one that helped the GOP take control of the Senate for the first time since the period after the Civil War's Reconstruction.

For Mr. Perdue, winning the suit against Mr. Baker not only would end the map appeal, it also would determine that the governor has authority over the other six independently elected statewide officials. Because only two of the officials are in the same party, Mr. Perdue would have much more influence.

Mr. Baker argues that state law gives the attorney general sole authority over the state's legal matters, including whether to appeal legislative-boundary maps.

Reach Walter C. Jones at (404) 589-8424 or wjones@morris.com.