Legislative Update: Georgia Elections

By: Katie Roberts

It’s not a presidential election year, but there’s a good chance your mailbox, social media feed, television, and text messages won’t be able to tell the difference. The 2022 election in Georgia is going to be pervasive and unrelenting.

That’s because this election cycle features all of Georgia’s constitutional officers, from Governor down to School Superintendent, including 14 Congressional seats, two Public Service Commission districts, and one US Senator. All 236 members of the Georgia House and Senate will face voters, as will thousands of local elected officials: judges, solicitors, county commissioners, board of education members, and others.

It's easy to come across news about high-profile races: the latest fundraising statistics, polling numbers, endorsements, gaffes, and campaign stops. This article will instead highlight the election landscape in the House and Senate, particularly given the impact of redistricting and legislative retirements.

First, a couple of reminders on how we got here.

Lines Drawn

The US Constitution requires that representatives to the US House be apportioned according to the number of residents, determined by the national census that takes place every 10 years. The Georgia House and Senate convened for a special session in November 2021 to take data from the census and use it to redraw lines for Georgia’s 14 congressional seats, 180 state House seats, and 56 state Senate seats. The Governor signed the new maps into law in December; despite several legal challenges, they are in effect for the 2022 election season.

Based on those new maps, candidates turned out to qualify to run in early March. “Qualifying” involves proving you are a resident of the office you are seeking and paying your fee (money generally goes to the party, not the state). More than 500 individuals qualified for 236 legislative seats.

Qualifying isn’t only significant because it signals the official start of the campaign season. Who doesn’t qualify, and who chooses not to, are equally as important. Legislative retirements are a huge theme of this year’s election cycle. The House and Senate are losing more than 240 years of service and institutional knowledge among 26 retirements, including some of its most influential members.

Retirements and Reelection

State Representative Calvin Smyre has represented citizens in Columbus continuously since 1975, making him the longest-serving member in the legislature. He is an executive at Synovus and has recently been appointed by the Biden Administration to serve as Ambassador to the Dominican Republic. He is a true statesman, and his leadership will be missed by members of both parties.

Other notable retirements this cycle include Senator Jeff Mullis. He has served in the Senate since 2001 and is the only Senate Republican who was in office when the GOP was the minority party. During his tenure in the senate, Mullis eventually ascended to Chairman of the powerful Rules Committee, the group that determines which bills make it to the floor for a vote.

House Appropriations Chairman Terry England will not seek another term. While the General Assembly is intended to be a part-time citizen legislature, the House Appropriations Chair works yearround and is in constant communication with the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget and the state’s economist regarding revenue and expense projections. England has been in the legislature since 2005 and has been Appropriations Chair since 2011.

Others are not retiring but aren’t seeking reelection either – they are running for higher office. More than 15 legislators have left the comforts of incumbency to seek a different post, many of them running for the open Lt. Governor, Agriculture Commissioner, or Labor Commissioner posts. You will undoubtedly see reports of these races in the media.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau: 2010 and 2020 Census

While retirements and running for higher office are commonplace in every election cycle, running under a new district number is not. But this is, of course, the result of redistricting. As the population shifts, seats are added and removed. Based on 2020 census numbers, Georgia’s population grew by more than 10 percent over the last decade, adding one million residents. Urban and suburban pockets of the state have seen healthy growth, with areas around Savannah and Augusta growing upwards of 30 and 40 percent. Three counties in middle Georgia have lost more than 20 percent of their residents in the last 10 years.

The redistricting process can be messy, especially in the House where districts are small and less able to absorb population swings. This election cycle features three sets of paired incumbents, where two lawmakers were forced into the same legislative district during reapportionment. Two pairings are in Gwinnett County (one Democratic, one Republican) and one in middle Georgia (both Republican).

Seventeen House members are also running under new district numbers this cycle. For example, before redistricting, House Districts 110 and 111 were both anchored by Henry County south of Atlanta. Those districts are now in Gwinnett County. Those incumbents have now qualified for House Districts 118 and 116, respectively.

While these highlight the more unique facets of the 2022 legislative cycle, there are plenty of “typical” races too. In the Senate, 16 incumbents face a challenger from their own party in the Primary; 19 have General Election opposition. In the House, 48 have a Primary opponent and 61 have a General Election challenger. Only about thirty percent of either chamber’s incumbents are challenged. Nearly 50 House members and 17 Senators will return to service in 2023 without an opponent in this year’s election cycle.

Registering to Vote

Elections are vital to our representative democracy, from the Presidential Election every four years to the seemingly incessant calendar of state and local elections and referendums. The redistricting process, while messy and occasionally confrontational, is a critical step in ensuring legislative districts maintain a balanced population.

The 2022 Primary Election is Tuesday, May 24. The deadline to register or update your voter registration was April 25. Early in-person voting began May 2. A runoff, where necessary, will occur on June 21. For more information, visit the My Voter Page on the Secretary of State’s website at https://mvp.sos/ga.gov.

About the Author Katie Roberts

Katie Roberts serves as Director of Government Affairs at FiveashStanley, Inc. In this role, she is critical in managing legislative and regulatory issues specific to the industry. Fiveash-Stanley is recognized as one of Georgia’s leading government and public affairs consulting firms and has represented BOMA Georgia since 2000.

FOUNDATION

Thank you to our 2022 BOMA Georgia Foundation Donors

Since the Foundation was created in 2014, it has awarded more than 600 scholarships to individuals seeking a certificate or professional designation in real estate. The Foundation has also conducted more than 12 research projects and white papers, all designed to give real estate owners and managers new tools to add value to their properties.

INDIVIDUALS Associate

Individual donors who have given $100-$199

Casey Dixon Chonte’ Martin Don Moore Florence Barbour Jacob Wilder Judi Clements Michael Knox Natalie Tyler-Martin Scott Doksansky

Bachelor

Individual donors who have given $200-$349

Dusty Muck Tammy Weeks

Doctorate

Individual donors who have given $500-$999

Jessica Nix Mark Gallman Morgan Cohen

Post-Doctorate

Individual donors who have given $1,000+

Gabriel Eckert Marie Worsham Mark Dukes Melody Frcek Orlando Ojeda Pat Freeman

*List current as of April 14, 2022

COMPANIES Associate

Company donors who have given $500-$999

ABM Allied Universal Security Services Arborguard Atlanta Property Group Banyan Street Capital BMS CAT of Georgia Brand Real Estate Services Capital City Mechanical Services Capital Restoration CapRidge Partners CBRE Colliers International Cushman & Wakefield Duke Realty Empire Roofing Engineered Restorations ENTEK EPIC Everclear Enterprises Full Circle Restoration, A Cotton Company Georgia Paving Gray Contracting Highwoods Properties Lillibridge Healthcare Services Madison Marquette Mayberry Electric OA Management P3 Painting & Renovations Parker Young Construction,

A RESCON Company Physicians Realty Trust PM&A

Pope & Land Enterprises Portman Management Pritchard Industries Prologis Remediation Group Roof Partners Rubbermaid Commercial Products Russell Landscape SERVPRO of North Lilburn SOLID The Morley Companies The RMR Group The Simpson Organization The Surface Masters

Bachelor

Company donors who have given $1,000-$2,499

Join our growing list of annual donors

www.BOMAGeorgiaFoundation.org

Get your BOMA 2017 Office Building Standards Today!

The BOMA 2017 for Office Buildings: Standard Methods of

Measurement (ANSI/BOMA Z65.1-2017) is a standard released by BOMA International for the measurement of rentable floor area in office buildings. This standard is built to: • Promote clear communication among participants in real estate transactions; • Clearly and consistently measure rentable square footage; • Provide accurate comparison through a clear method of measurement; and • To align BOMA measurements with the International Property Measurement Standards (IPMS).

The BOMA 2017 Standard for Office Buildings features a new stepby-step format to ensure an easy to follow and use measurement methodology. The 2017 standard expands glossary terms and has an accompanying best practice guide to assist users of this standard. New additions to the BOMA 2017 Office standard include capped load factors applied on a tenant-by-tenant basis, major vertical penetrations at the lowest level, customization of interbuilding area allocation in loading docks and conference rooms, and exterior amenity measurements, such as balconies, covered galleries, and finished rooftop terraces.

The new inclusions both increase total rentable square footage and allow for further customization and allocation in their calculation. Capped load factors help landlords and tenants negotiate leases appropriate to both their market and these standards. The inclusion of major vertical penetrations such as stairwells and elevator shafts allow for a single, consistent, rule to measure vertical penetrations.

The changes to inter-building area does not increase rentable square footage, but they give a greater level of customization to space allocation, and ensures tenants are not paying for space in a building without benefit. The inclusion of balconies, covered galleries, and finished rooftop terraces used exclusively by tenants better reflects the increasing demand for these amenities. “2017 BOMA for Office Buildings Standards has expanded upon its predecessors (1996, 2010) with refined definitions and clarifications, new information and innovative methodologies that will heighten owner’s understanding of how their building is currently being used.” Said Mark Schroeder, Technical Director with IA Interior Architects. “The most important characteristic of 2017 BOMA is that more of the building’s elements are captured in the overall USF which increases the resulting RSF. In essence the overall building can grow which translates to a greater ROI.”

The BOMA 2017 Office Standard is fully compatible with the IPMS Coalition standards. The IPMS Coalition is a group of 86 companies across 160 countries whose goal is to develop global standards with a consistent measurement methodology for buildings across international markets. BOMA is a founding member of the IPMS Coalition, and BOMA incorporates International Property Measurement Standards in all its standards.

BOMA has maintained, updated, and simplified this standard since 1915 to reflect the changing need of the commercial real estate market. BOMA standards assist building owners, property managers, facility managers, architects, space planners, interior designing, asset managers, engineers, and many other real estate professionals.

“2017 BOMA for Office Buildings remains the elite standard for square footage calculations for existing buildings and more importantly, it has now become a strategic tool for Architects/ building owners to enable a greater understanding of design intent vs. effect thereby maximizing the overall efficiency and leasability potential.”

Mark Schroeder, Technical Director with IA Interior Architects