Posted on 01/22/2013 6:56:55 PM PST by Libloather
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A day after Virginia Senate Republicans staged a surprise reapportionment of all 40 Senate districts, it was met by ominous warnings from Democrats and nervous dismay by the state's Republican governor and House Republicans.
On a party-line power play Monday, the Senate's 20 Republicans struck with one of the 20 Senate Democrats absent and abruptly amended a House bill that previously made minor technical adjustments to House districts.
Sen. John Watkins' amendment - never vetted by a committee - adds a sixth majority-black district but substantially strengthens the number of GOP districts.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsplex.com ...
If this were the Democrats, the media would be celebrating their political skills. In a just world, the Democrats would be charged under RICO statues and the media would be forced into bankruptcy due to complete corruption and re-organized under Chapter 11.
I am glad SOME ‘Pubbies are showing some guts.
Democrats are an enemy. Show no mercy, and no pity.
Legislatively speaking, of course.
I assume that you saw that the VA Senate approved, on a 20-19 vote (with one Democrat absent because he went to Obama’s inauguration), a new state senate redistricting map that turns the Democrat gerrymander (under which the GOP barely got a 20-20 tie in 2011 despite winning the statewide state senate vote by 57%-40%) into a Republican gerrymander (where the GOP likely will have at least a 26-14 majority after the 2015 elections), but also creates a sixth black-majority district. The bill moved to the Republican House of Delegates, and if the Delegates go along with it, to Gov. McDonnell’s desk. Most VA Republicans outside the Senate have expressed disappointment with the tactics used (they were necessary because GOP Lt. Gov. Bolling had told the Senate leader that he was opposed to the measure), but I think it will be approved and signed into law. Democrats will challenge it both before the Justice Department (VA is subject to Section 5 preclearance under the VRA, unless SCOTUS declares Section 5 preclearance unconstitutional later this year) and in state court (the VA constitution says that redistricting must take place in years that end in 1, but it doesn’t say that no other redistricting may occur during the decade, and in fact the congressional map wasn’t drawn until 2012 and technical amendments to redistricting plans have been approved in the past), and I won’t hazard a guess as to how it will all turn out. Here’s a good article on the bill: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/va-politics/va-republicans-move-on-redistricting-draws-criticism/2013/01/22/f7645ee8-64b9-11e2-9e1b-07db1d2ccd5b_story.html
Well, the VA Senate did another interesting thing today. A Senate sub-committee approved a bill to change the allocation of EVs from winner-takes-all to allocation by CD. It will now go to a full committee, and it appears to be on its way to approval by party-line vote (unless Lt. Gov. Bolling, who is considering running for governor as an Independent this year, votes against it). The bill would establish a ME/NE method of allocation, with an interesting twist: instead of giving the extra two EVs to the statewide winner, it would give them to the winner of the most CDs in the state. So had the system been in place in 2012 (when Romney carried 7 CDs and Obama carried 4 (one extremely narrowly)), Romney would have won 9 of VA’s 13 EVs, as opposed to 7 of 13 under a ME/NE system or 0 under winner-takes-all. One thing I hadn’t considered was that ME and NE aren’t subject to Section 5 of the VRA, and that the Justice Department may try to block such a system being adopted in VA. Here’s the story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/va-lawmakers-move-to-change-states-system-for-apportioning-presidential-electoral-votes/2013/01/23/f254adb8-657c-11e2-889b-f23c246aa446_story.html
As I posted on FR a week or so ago (see http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/2977499/posts?page=56#56, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/2977499/posts?page=65#65 and http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/2977499/posts?page=74#74), if VA, PA, OH, MI, WI and FL adopt a ME/NE EV apportionment system, the GOP would be in the catbird seat to win the White House in 2016 and beyond. I had not considered an allocation method such as the one in the VA bill, but if all six states were to adopt that method, then Romney would have received 280 EVs in 2012 instead of 268 had the six states used the ME/NE system or 306 with all six using winner takes all. I can’t think of any downside to having all six states allocate EVs in the way that VA is contemplating.
Unless you made a mistake with your math (not that I can see one), I completely agree with you. This is an EXCELLENT idea!
p.s. Ken Cuccinelli would make a formidable POTUS candidate. Articulate, well spoken, very bright, comes from a swing state. Me likey.
“p.s. Ken Cuccinelli would make a formidable POTUS candidate. Articulate, well spoken, very bright, comes from a swing state. Me likey.”
I think proportional distribution was the norm prior to 1960. Not only does it return us to the purpose of the ec, it is a firewall against “spigot cities”. Dem fraud can only steal districts they already control.
Agreed!
Proportional distribution was never the norm, as states traditionally saw concentrating their EVs as the way to exert the most influence.
I suspect that any measures actually to do this in “swing” states will face aggressive judicial challenge on civil rights grounds. The Democrats batted close to 1.000 in those challenges (against early voting and voter ID) last year, so no reason to doubt their success this time. These measures would “work” for their Republican sponsors only because they would effectively dilute geographically concentrated minority votes (and can only be enacted by Republican legislative majorities elected in the same diluting fashion), and signed by Governors elected in low-minority-participation non-Presidential elections.
This is AWESOME. I have a Marshal stiffy. (watch “Justified” on FX)
It was long past due for the GOP to grow some nads and do something like this. Bill Bolling is a piece of crap for standing the way. Why don’t you want your own party to have more seat, Billie?
Maybe if it all works out and we keep the Governor’s office (Bolling if you run as an Indie and throw it to the rat I will go out there to VA just put a flaming bag of poo on your doorstep) they can redo the congressional map, improve the 11th which is now unwinnable (or is NOVA so lost we should leave it as is?).
I also LOVE the “twist” they put on the E vote idea. Someone in the VA Senate is using their brain, and nads. I want to know who the mastermind is so we can elect him RNC chair.
Such an encouraging development, I’m almost afraid to believe it and be pleased.
Proportional distribution of electoral votes?
I don’t know of any state ever doing it that way. That’s a pretty modern idea.
We can’t make the VA-11 winnable without endangering other CDs, and we certainly could never draw 9 CDs that we would carry in a presidential election in which the Republican didn’t win a large statewide majority. In fact, when VA picks up a 12th CD after the 2020 Census, we should draw a second black-majority CD (one solely in Hampton Roads, the other from Richmond to the black areas in the new SD-25 and beyond)) and a second rural/suburban NoVA GOP district and combine the VA-02 with the eastern part of the VA-04 (I suspect that Forbes would retire by then) so as to ensure that we win majorities in 8 out of 12 CDs (currently Rigell’s VA-02 voted for Obama and several other gave Romney 50%-52%, too close for comfort) and thus lock in 10 EVs from VA.
By the way, if VA, PA, OH, MI, WI and FL adopt a modified ME/NE EV allocation system in which the extra two EVs go to the candidate who wins the most CDs in the state, then I strongly would encourage NC (which now has a GOP governor to go with its GOP House and Senate) to adopt such a method as well. In 2012, Romney would have been elected with 277 EVs had all 7 states adopted the modified ME/NE allocation method, and would have received that number even had Obama carried NC (which Romney carried by only 2%).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.