Infernal Pastimes of a Sunspot Mind

The Bradley County Republican Party’s Executive Committee does not care for the notion of moving part of the county into a redrawn 10th Senatorial District. The party issued the following statement on its Facebook page:

Whereas, Bradley County is one of the ten stand alone, major metropolitan areas in the Great State of Tennessee and

Whereas, any attempt to split Bradley County into two separate state senatorial districts would have a detrimental effect on one of Tennessee’s largest centers of economic and cultural growth and

Whereas, the redistricting of Bradley County into two senatorial districts would disrupt the cohesive, clear, and unified voice of all Bradley County citizens and

Whereas, the division of Bradley County is not necessary or needed for the creation of a new district and

Now therefore be it resolved, that the Executive Committee of the Bradley County Republican Party respectfully requests and urges the Tennessee Senatorial Redistricting Regional Coordinators and our current elected officials to maintain the entirety of Bradley County in a single state senatorial district.

Bradley County Republican Party
Executive Committee
December 30, 2011

Multiple news reports have indicated a possible division of the county between the 9th and 10th Districts, with one goal being to increase the number of Republican voters in the 10th, which has long been a Democratic Party stronghold, given its combination of Marion County and Democratic-leaning portions of Hamilton County.

Original Article

Sen. Mike Bell (R-Riceville) rebutted claims by Cleveland, Tenn. attorney Jim Bilbo that splitting Bradley County between an eastwardly expanded 10th senatorial district and the 9th would weaken the county’s influence in Nashville. Bell cited his past House experience, when he served part of Monroe County, as evidence:

“Every time an issue came up with TDEC, TDOT or the County Commission passed a resolution, they had two representatives speaking for them in Nashville,” he said. “Anytime we had a meeting in Nashville, they had two representatives there.”

But is that assuming that their votes don’t cancel each other out? Say, for instance, that Sen. Andy Berke still held the 10th and Bell the 9th, and both represented Bradley. Well, look no further than Hamilton County, Bell says, which today is split between Berke, a Democrat, and Sen. Bo Watson, the Republican Speaker Pro Tempore.

“When it comes to local issues, economic issues or road issues, even Berke and Watson get along,” he said. “I’m sure they don’t agree a lot on political issues, but when it comes to local issues … when it comes to economic development issues, even Berke and Watson get along on those. It’s the political issues when you have people of different parties who might not get along.

In any case, despite Bilbo’s begging, it looks somewhat likely that Bradley County will have one senator representing its northern half, and another representing the southern.

Original Article