Maybe it’s a good thing more races aren’t contested this year, because this may be the most confusing election we’ve ever had. A mantra of Republicans and Democrats alike is that voting is our solemn, God-given, patriotic obligation. Then, no matter who’s in power in Atlanta, they constantly shift election districts around to maximize their party’s advantage, and the voters can just be damned.

This year’s damage happens to have been wrought by one man, Rep. Doug McKillip, with the rest of the delegation tagging along. Democrat-turned-Republican McKillip singlehandedly redrew every ACC commission district and every House of Representatives district to further his own political agenda over the expressed and considered wishes of our local citizens and our local government.

Local voters in House District 117 have a unique opportunity to step in and help vote McKillip out of office before he can do any more damage to Athens-Clarke County. Unfortunately, for many Democrats in District 117 it will be more important to cast a useless Democratic ballot on July 31 with no contested Democratic races on their ballot. They could, instead, cross over and vote alongside District 117 Republicans for local attorney Regina Quick, the honest though conservative choice against McKillip.

The other contested House race is in District 118, where Democrat Keith Heard is the longtime incumbent, primarily because the Republicans couldn’t touch his district, since he is African-American, and the U.S. Justice Department would slap down any effort to dilute the black vote in that district. Instead, the Republicans have turned House District 118 into a Democratic ghetto, pushing as many Democrats as possible out of the other districts and into the 118th.

So, it’s a pretty safe bet that a Democrat will win the 118th, although there are two young Republican candidates vying in the Republican primary for the right to run against the Democrat in the General Election in November.

Heard’s opponent in the Democratic primary is Spencer Frye, who ran a good race in the last mayoral campaign but narrowly missed the runoff. This time around, Spencer is running against Keith and painting him as out-of-touch with his constituents and in the bed with special interests. It is true that Heard lives in Atlanta, though he keeps a house here and technically satisfies the requirements legislators wrote for themselves. Spencer has raised some money, has already mailed two full-color flyers and has been out knocking on doors.

Regardless of where he lives now, Keith Heard grew up here and is a successful insurance executive. It is tremendously important to the black community here to have him in the Georgia legislature. Patterns are changing, though, and what used to be black East Athens has seen a lot of whites moving in and blacks moving out—though a lot of those whites are college students who don’t vote. The 118th has the white liberal enclaves of Cobbham, Boulevard and Normaltown as well as the extensive white suburbs on the east side of town. Will the 118th turn out to be a black-white vote in the Democratic primary? Heard has withstood all challengers, though none as strong as Frye potentially is. This is an interesting race.

District 118 is even more interesting because of the two candidates in the Republican primary, Carter Kessler and Chris Perlera. Keep in mind that they are contesting for the privilege of running against the Democratic candidate in the General Election in the last remaining bulwark of Democratic voters in Athens-Clarke County—in other words, a suicide mission. But you have to start somewhere in politics, and more power to them. Carter is a Ron Paul Republican at odds with his local party: the outsider’s outsider. Chris grew up here from the age of 12, the son of Salvadorian-immigrant parents. He went through the public school system and the University of Georgia (with a degree in Romance languages) and works for First American Bank battling credit card fraud. He is a leader in the local Hispanic community, a fiscal conservative and what I would have to call a moderate on social issues, though he winced when I suggested that label when we were interviewing him on “Live With Gwen and Pete” (Fridays at noon on WXAG-AM 1470).

Mail-out voting has begun. Last day to register is July 2. Early voting begins July 9. The Democratic and Republican primaries are July 31.

As always, your local board of elections can help you figure out where you’re voting and who’s on your ballot. Just get to the board of elections through the “departments” on www.athensclarkecounty.com, and all your questions will be answered. (Or call them at 706-613-3150). They’re the only people in Athens who know where we all vote. And they’re non-partisan, non-political, hard-working and smart.

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