Category Archives: Redistricting

Washington’s New Districts: Looking Ahead

New Years Day looms ever closer for the state of Washington’s independent redistricting commission. Constitutionally, the five-member committee must pass plans for both legislative and congressional districts by January 1st, but as of the end of the business day Friday, the commission remained deadlocked. Committee members vowed to continue working into the weekend to try to reach a compromise before the deadline, but for candidates and voters looking forward to November, the new district lines in Washington are still very much up in the air, despite months of work.

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New Jersey Redistricting: Implications for 2012 and Beyond

On Friday, New Jersey’s bipartisan redistricting commission officially approved the state’s new congressional districts. The commission, which convened on June 15, finished the redistricting process well in advance of the January 17 due date. Overall, the commission’s plan favors the GOP, likely reducing the number of Democratic districts while strengthening Republican districts in the southern… Continue Reading

Is it time for a Constitutional Convention?

As Rose Institute Alumnus and recently published author, Patrick Atwater (Claremont McKenna College ’10), notes in his new book, A New California Dream, California is filled with contradictions. The state has the largest economic output ($1.9 trillion as of 2010) of the 50 states but ranks 7th for income inequality. It has the most stringent environmental laws but eight of the ten most polluted cities. Perhaps most importantly, observes Atwater, California has a highly-publicized democratic initiative process but arguably the most dysfunctional state government in the United States. The problem of ineffective government seems so systemic in California that calls for a state constitutional convention in recent years are gaining support.

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Arizona State Senate impeaches redistricting commission chair

On Tuesday, the majority-Republican Arizona State Senate voted to impeach the chair of the state’s Independent Redistricting Commission, Colleen Mathis. Republicans have accused Mathis, who is a registered independent, of being overly partisan and too secretive about the Commission’s business. The party-line vote was 21-6 to impeach Mathis, the sole independent on the Commission. Continue Reading

Ohio’s new redistricting map eliminates 3 districts, adds 1

On September 26, Republican Governor John Kasich signed into law Ohio’s new congressional redistricting plan. The plan, released on September 13, passed the Republican-controlled Assembly and Senate earlier in the week, but its ultimate approval will likely be in the hands of voters through a proposed ballot referendum in November 2012. Overall, the plan secures the Republicans’ gains in the 2010 election, with very few districts being competitive.

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New Maps, Big Changes for the Inland Empire

Rep. David Drier (R-San Dimas), Chairman of the House Rules Committee cruised to a double-digit victory in California’s 26th Congressional District last November, trouncing his opponents with relative ease. Rep. Jerry Lewis, (R-Redlands) crushed his challenger by nearly 30 points last fall. Yet, come November 2012, both Congressmen may very well be out of a job. How could two popular and powerful Congressmen with more than 70 years of Congressional experience between them be in such political danger? It’s not a shocking scandal, a shortage of campaign cash, or any drastic ideological shift. The answer is redistricting, an esoteric yet tremendously important political procedure that shakes each and every level of the American political system every ten years. And this time around, the Inland Empire sits squarely at the epicenter of a political earthquake.

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Suit filed against Redistricting Commission’s maps

On September 29th, 2011, former Republican Congressman George Radanovich, along with four others, filed a petition with the California Supreme Court arguing that the California Citizens Redistricting Commission racially gerrymandered the 37th, 43rd, and 44th congressional districts in order to favor three black incumbents in Los Angeles. Continue Reading