POLITICAL DISTRICTS IN south Cobb, the portion of the county roughly south of Macland Road/Powder Springs Street and southwest of Dobbins, have seen significant demographic changes in voter registration in recent years.

As some examples, State Rep. Don Wix's 33rd House District, based in the Powder Springs area, was 34.6 percent black and 61.3 percent white in voter registration in July 2004 (the balance being Asians, Hispanics and others). The current count from the Secretary of State shows his district now is 44.7 percent black and 47.5 percent white in voter registration. Between July 2004 and this month, Wix's district added 5,362 blacks to the voting rolls, while white registration remained almost flat, increasing by just 62 voters.

Wix survived a close call in last year's Democratic primary, when he defeated political novice Michael Smith by only a 53-47 percent margin, thanks to Wix's strength among absentee voters. Similarly, the southwest Cobb/Marietta 33rd Senate district of Democrat Steve Thompson was 33.1 percent black and 61.8 percent white in voter registration five years ago, while today his district is 41.9 percent black and 49.1 percent white in voter registration. During that five-year period, Thompson's district added 11,959 blacks to the voter rolls, while white registration declined by 580 voters.

Marietta Rep. Pat Dooley's 38th House district, the only Cobb state legislative district to change party control last fall, is 31 percent black and 59.6 percent white in voter registration, compared with 24.8 percent black and 69.6 percent white in July 2004. The 38th District was 26.4 percent black and 67.6 percent white in the November 2004 general election, when Dooley lost to Republican Steve Tumlin by a seven-point margin. Between July 2004 and August 2009, Dooley's district added 2,318 blacks to the voting rolls, while white registration increased by just 438 voters. The surge in black registration in the district played a critical role in Dooley's three-point win last November over Tumlin, fueled by enthusiasm for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Like Dooley, Obama last fall also won a slight majority in the 38th District, in contrast to the 2004 presidential election, when then-President George W. Bush won the district.

With the large increase in black registration in south Cobb over the last decade, the Democratic primary increasingly has become tantamount to election in that area of the county, and Republicans who have sought office in the area have not had much luck. As an example, last fall, Republican Hunter Hill managed just 39 percent of the vote against Democratic Sen. Doug Stoner of Smyrna. At the southern tip of the county, in the Austell/Six Flags area, Republican Chris Cooper polled only 27 percent against Democratic Rep. Alisha Thomas Morgan, who represents the only State House district entirely within Cobb that is majority black (57.8 percent) in voter registration. Morgan's district has been majority-black in voter registration since the 2004 presidential election, when it was 50.5 percent black in voter registration.