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Posts Tagged ‘2010’

National: Losing more in blue states than red

Written by admin
Thursday, 5 August 2010 08:01

From the Hill

If the party’s gubernatorial candidates were to emerge with wins in Texas, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan — all states where Republicans either lead or are tied in recent polls — and the GOP holds or wins control of legislative chambers in those same states, Republicans could monopolize the post-2010 redraw.

“If Republicans do really well on Election Day, they could swing a lot more seats that they would have control over,” said analyst Kimball Brace, who heads Election Data Services, a bipartisan firm that specializes in the census and redistricting. “A shift of 10 to 15 [state legislative] chambers is enough to swing [the process] dramatically toward the Republicans.”

Based on census data from earlier this year, Brace estimates a total of eight states will gain congressional seats this time around, with Texas projected to be the biggest gainer, with as many as four additional seats. Ohio is projected to lose two seats, while Pennsylvania and Michigan are expected to lose one. Florida is likely to gain one.

Strategists note that trends point to the loss of more congressional seats in blue states than in red ones.

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Tags: 2010, census, ed gillespie, election, reapportionment, Redistricting | Posted under Redistricting | Comments

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Last Updated on Thursday, 5 August 2010 08:01

Harlem, Watts face uncertain future

Written by admin
Thursday, 5 August 2010 07:27

From Politico

“There are no givens. Anything can happen” in redistricting, said former Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-N.Y.), who played a major role in his home state’s 2002 redistricting and now chairs REDMAP, the Republican State Leadership Committee’s Redistricting Majority Project.

REDMAP hopes to spend $20 million this fall in state legislative races to try to secure GOP majorities in battleground states — which would allow Republicans to draw congressional districts and could affect seats in states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas depending partly on the outcome of this year’s congressional elections. The New York Senate, which Democrats now control 32 to 30, is a prime Reynolds target — with several seats in play that are currently held by each party.
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Although the redistricting impact is unpredictable, it’s noteworthy that the New York Senate’s top two Democratic leaders — Malcolm Smith and John Sampson — are African-Americans. “A Republican Senate would be very different,” said Reynolds, and it might be more solicitous of Hispanic interests in Rangel’s district and elsewhere.

Although Republican voters will have little say in the outcome of districts like those of Rangel and Waters — which are heavily Democratic — redistricting in one part of a state can affect the map-drawing in another part. “We tell our members to get to know your state legislators because they are the ones who control redistricting,” said Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.), vice chairman of redistricting for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

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Tags: 2010, census, election, rangel, reapportionment, Redistricting, tom reynolds, waters | Posted under Redistricting |

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Last Updated on Thursday, 5 August 2010 07:27

New Battle Lines Drawn Over Redistricting

Written by admin
Monday, 19 July 2010 07:54

From National Journal

It’s impossible to say exactly how much political players and organizers will spend on redistricting, partly because many nonparty groups driving the process face minimal disclosure requirements. But some estimates put redistricting-related expenditures — for legislative and gubernatorial campaigns, data analysis, map-drawing and court fights — at $200 million or more.

As usual, Democratic Party leaders are getting a big assist from labor-backed groups and loosely regulated outside organizations, including the National Democratic Redistricting Trust, which is largely exempt from any reporting rules. The group recently won approval from the Federal Election Commission to collect soft (unregulated) money with the help of federal candidates and officeholders. Reform advocates had objected that this violates the 2002 soft money ban.

GOP leaders historically have relied on the Republican National Committee to lead the redistricting effort. But this year they’re branching out, tapping a network of new 501(c)4 and 527 organizations for fundraising and technical help. These include the Republican State Leadership Committee, a 527 headed by Ed Gillespie, former counselor to President George W. Bush.

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Tags: 2010, 2012, census, election, reapportionment, Redistricting | Posted under Redistricting |

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Last Updated on Monday, 19 July 2010 07:54

TX: Redistricting is like a box of chocolates

Written by admin
Friday, 16 July 2010 07:51

From the San Angelo Standard Times

If redistricting weren’t so serious, it would be funny.

As Forrest Gump’s mama says about life in the 1994 movie, “It’s like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”

Most folks don’t know, or care, about legislative and congressional redistricting, to be done in the legislative session beginning in January, by the legislators mostly chosen in this year’s election.

Don’t care, that is, until they see a relatively compact Austin-based congressional district split into three — one reaching to Houston, one to South Texas, and one to San Antonio and West Texas.

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Tags: 2010, census, election, reapportionment, Redistricting, texas | Posted under Redistricting |

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Last Updated on Friday, 16 July 2010 07:51

WI: Dem Gov Candidate Has Redistricting Plan

Written by admin
Tuesday, 13 July 2010 07:34

From the Green Bay Press Gazette

Under Barrett’s plan, lawmakers would be forced to agree on a map that would feature districts with a more equal number of Democrat and Republican voters or risk the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board taking the process out of their hands.

However, such a plan would require the approval of the very lawmakers who would be most affected by the process, which Barrett knows will be difficult.

“What it’s going to take is pressure from the public and people saying, ‘Look, we want to have this process a more representative process,'” the Milwaukee mayor said Monday during a stop at the Brown County Courthouse in Green Bay. “And I think people, whether at the state level or at the federal level, they don’t want gridlock. They don’t want partisanship. They want people who are going to work together.”

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