Nationally, we saw a Republican victory, as the GOP took control of the House of Representatives, and gained five seats in the Senate. Locally, Republican Nathan Deal won the Georgia governor’s office with 53% of the vote, and Casey Cagle was reelected as Lt. Governor with 54.7% of the vote. Georgia’s senior U.S. Senator, Johnny Isakson, also retained his seat. Another local victory we want to mention is the former Chairman of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners, Sam Olens, who was elected to Georgia’s Attorney General Office.
Georgia’s voters passed a statewide referendum to provide for inventory of businesses to be exempt from state property tax. Currently, businesses in Georgia are taxed annually for the inventory they have in a warehouse or in a retail store. Roughly, this will save businesses $100 in tax per $1,000,000 in inventory.
We were surprised to see the constitutional amendment for trauma centers voted down. The amendment proposed an additional $10 tag fee on private passenger vehicles for trauma care centers throughout the state. It is likely voters felt it was just an additional tax in addition to the ad valorem tax we already pay. However, it is possible that voters in the rural parts of the state felt that the trauma centers would be centered in Atlanta, thus not benefiting them.
Following the Republican victory, President Obama suggested he would negotiate with the presumed next speaker of the House, Rep. John Boehner (R., Ohio), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) and Democratic leaders on the entire suite of tax cuts passed under George W. Bush that expire at the end of the year. In our opinion, the election certainly made a difference in the current administration’s outlook.
Overall, it appears we will be saying goodbye to Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca.) as Speaker of the House, making way for Rep. Boehner, with Republicans picking up at least 60 seats in the House. While the Democrats still control the Senate, the gap narrowed to 50 Democrats, two Independents and 46 Republicans. Two seats, Alaska and Washington, remain undecided as votes have not been tallied yet.
One important point to consider on the horizon is that the 2010 census results will be used to determine the number of congressional seats apportioned to each state for the next decade. The GOP finds itself in the best position for both congressional and legislative redistricting in 17 states, since the party now controls more state legislature seats and chambers that it has since the 1920s. States like Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Michigan and Pennsylvania are poised to lose congressional seats.
We feel it is likely Republicans will create districts that pack members of opposing political parties into as few districts as possible, leaving the rest dominated by those who are drawing the lines. While rules on redistricting vary from state to state, it will be interesting to see how incumbents pick their voters.