Infernal Pastimes of a Sunspot Mind

Warning: autobiographical passage ahead. Ten or so years ago, I woke up one morning in a new Tennessee House of Representatives district, and it really changed some things. Actually, to be truthful, I didn’t realize it on the day it happened.

In fact, I had already picked up a petition to be a candidate for office in the district I thought I was still in, and only later realized that my intended opponent was going to escape debating me in the public square as we asked voters to choose between us. (I decided to remain a candidate in the new district, in order to learn the process so I could share with other citizens how to go about it, until another plot twist moved me to yet another House district, where I still live.)

This time around, I have watched the process with a great deal of interest, because it matters whom one’s state legislators are, and it arguably matters even more whom one’s city council member, county commissioner, school board member, alderman, etc. are. And, yes, there’s congressional redistricting that impacts one’s representation at the U.S. Capitol. For example, Cleveland is now in the Fourth District with Murfreesboro (which itself was formerly in the Sixth).

The Tennessee Democratic Party had to sit and watch as Republicans took advantage of their historic majority (#drink) and embodied the “eye for an eye” saying. If everyone involved runs, Democrats in several districts will have to choose between two of their representatives. For example, Reps. Tommie Brown and JoAnne Favors are now both in the 28th House District. Steve Steffens laments that intra-party squabbling has already commenced in Memphis.

In the end, a few deals were made that rolled back some of the most aggressive bulkheads the GOP had drawn into the maps, though their firewall looks pretty good for the next five election cycles. Reps. Sherry Jones and Mike Stewart were not forced into a primary face-off; and Sen. Jim Kyle did not get “drawn out of existence” (unlike Sen. Kerry Roberts, perhaps the lone Republican sacrifice).

Though GOP leaders like Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey tout their fairness in reapportioning voters and legislators, an objective viewpoint cannot miss seeing the victors collecting their war spoils. This cycle will continue unless a new process, such as an independent redistricting commission, is enacted. Unfortunately, the Democratic Party is the loudest voice calling for this change, and they are understandably laughed off the stage, given their history in this state. I believe independents will have to lead the charge, but there’s only one in the Legislature (and he’s not independent by choice).

No matter what, as populations shift, people will wake up in new districts every ten years.

From what I have seen on all the maps, it appears that all of my districts are the same as they were from 2002-2011. I am in Chattanooga City Council District 6; Hamilton County Commission (and School Board) District 8; Tennessee House of Representatives District 30; Tennessee Senate District 10; and U.S. House of Representatives District 3. (For the record, I was hoping that my precinct would be moved into Council 5, Commission 5, and House 28, to better unify the Brainerd community as an electoral bloc. However, compliance with the 1965 Voting Rights Act plays a part in keeping us separate.)

What about you? Are you satisfied with your new district lines?

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Here’s my Storify collection on Wednesday’s legislative redistricting news:

Original Article

If you can imagine someone more excited than Steve Martin’s immortal character in the classic film The Jerk, when he announces the arrival of the new phone books, well—that’s me, with regard to new district maps. I’ll keep updating this post throughout the evening (update: putting my thoughts, and yours, into a Storify story in a different post), but for now here are some quick links to pages that house the maps themselves.

Tennessee House of Representatives (see under heading Redistricting Legislation)
Tennessee Senate (see under heading Redistricting Legislation and Maps)
Hamilton County Senate districts
Hamilton County House districts

Please note: these are proposed district lines, and have not been finalized nor approved by the General Assembly. But they are arguably close, for the most part, to the versions that will be enacted.

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The Republican-led committee in charge of new district maps for the state House of Representatives on Tuesday gave their Democratic counterparts a preview of the maps that will be discussed today.

The House Democratic Caucus held a meeting to go over the changes, and Tom Humphrey reports on the meeting:

In four of the new House districts, eight incumbent Democrats will be facing one another if they seek re-election.

They include Reps. [Tommie] Brown and JoAnne Favors of Chattanooga and Reps. Mike Stewart and Sherry Jones of Nashville. The other two districts are in Shelby County and pair Reps. Antonio Parkinson and [Jeanne] Richardson in one while Reps. Barbara Cooper and G.A. Hardaway are paired in another.

In one new district, incumbent Republican Jim Cobb of Spring City is paired with Democratic Rep. Bill Harmon of Dunlap.

Five new no-incumbent districts are created, all apparently intended to lean Republican. One is in northwest Knox County, including the Hardin Valley and Karnes area. The others are in Davidson County, Hamilton County, Rutherford County and Williamson County.

The Hamilton County Democratic Party meanwhile issued a statement that accuses Republicans of gerrymandering the state to create one-party rule, and going against the checks and balances intended by the nation’s Founding Fathers. (If only I could think of an example where another party has done something similar, I could demonstrate that this isn’t the first time this has happened. Even better would be an example where a party did so for multiple consecutive generations. Oh, well. It’s wrong no matter which party does it, and that’s the point here.)

The HCDP press release follows:

“The Republican agenda is clear. They intend to gerrymander our democracy into a one-party system in which no one who disagrees with the Republican elite has a voice,” said Hamilton County Democratic Chairman Paul Smith.

“This is not just a national or a state issue,” he continued. “Right here in Hamilton County and Chattanooga, we will be drastically affected by the tactics of Republicans in the Nashville statehouse. They’ve stated their goal—make it impossible for Democratic, or for that matter, independent views to be heard. They even attempt to stifle dissent within their own party. And in our own county, the Republican-dominated country commission seeks to maintain its iron grip on the nonpartisan school board in violation of the state constitution. We believe this is wrong and will be putting forth tremendous effort to ensure that those who hold opposing views can still participate in our democracy.”

The Founding Fathers went to great lengths to construct a system of checks and balances, incorporated into the Constitution, designed to prevent the tyranny of the majority over a minority, he noted. “The Democratic Party stands firm in support of the intent of the Constitution, and we will be sending that message to all of Hamilton County throughout 2012 and beyond.”

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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

The long-awaited redrawn maps that will outline Tennessee’s new electoral districts will start being revealed next week, WPLN’s Blake Farmer reports. The special committee on redistricting will begin with the House of Representatives maps on Wednesday, January 4, in Legislative Plaza Room 30 at 9:00 a.m. Central time, says Brent Leatherwood, the House Republican Caucus’ Director of Communications.

In Hamilton County, it is widely expected that Districts 28 and 29 will be somewhat combined, resulting in a single district where African-Americans are in the majority; and that a new district is being formed that will comprise parts of eastern and northern Hamilton County.

State Senate and U.S. House of Representatives districts are also being redrawn and reapportioned in compliance with the U.S. Constitution.

The 2010 census marks the first time that the Republican Party has controlled redistricting in Tennessee.

(Updated to correct day of week.)

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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

The Cleveland Daily Banner reports that Bradley County could be split between multiple Senate districts by Republican legislators seeking to maximize their party’s electoral advantages statewide.

One redistricting scenario apparently under consideration by Republicans would split Bradley County into two state senatorial districts in a move potentially aimed at wresting the 10th Senatorial District away from Sen. Andy Berke, the Democratic incumbent.

As the article points out, the Tennessee Constitution states, in Article II, Section 6:

In a district composed of two or more counties, each county shall adjoin at least one other county of such district; and no county shall be divided in forming such a district.

We’ll have to wait until the General Assembly starts its session to see which scenario made the final maps.

A question worth asking is whether Democrats regret any of their redistricting practices during the past, oh, century and a half, now that the the proverbial shoe is on the other foot and appears to be kicking them pretty hard. An idealist may wish the GOP would play nice now that they have the pen, but anyone who understands human nature at all could have predicted this backlash.

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Diving into the arguably nerdy process of redrawing electoral districts is an activity usually reserved for wonks, lawyers, and such. But an incentive-enhanced challenge to the general public literally paid off for one Williamson County student. Behold:

Ravenwood High School senior Michael Earhart took top honors in best state house map and best state senate map in the TN Redistricting: Map It Out! contest sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Tennessee.

Earhart was among two other Nashville area high school students to take home honors, in addition to one community member. Winners in each category received $1,000 from the league, which sponsored the nonpartisan, statewide contests, designed to educate residents about the redistricting process.

Congratulations to Michael, thanks to the League, and a major “atta boy” to the Government teacher for shepherding his students through the process of learning this important part of how our republic works.

Original Article

In Robin Smith’s comments on talk radio this morning, she observed that Tennessee’s Third District, after redistricting, would be “very favorable” towards a challenger to the incumbent. She alluded to the idea that there would be only one mass media market—that would be Chattanooga—instead of the current multiple markets where it’s necessary to purchase campaign messaging.

Political analysts have concluded that one of the reasons U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann was able to defeat Smith was his strong showing in the northern counties of the current district, particularly in Anderson County.

Anderson, and its primary municipality Oak Ridge, are of course within the Knoxville broadcasting area, as are several of the other counties that lie past the extremely narrow strip that connects the two ends of the district.

You can be sure that current and potential challengers are looking at this information, and are assessing how a reconfigured district that is more concisely centered on Hamilton County could help them.

Of course, until the maps are revealed, and approved by the Legislature, all of this is talk. But something tells me that it’s not purely idle talk.

Original Article