State's Lawmakers Ready for Redistricting

By Stephen Groves, of Virginia Statehouse News Tuesday, September 21, 2010

ALEXANDRIA, Va.- As Virginia lawmakers gear up for the 2011 redistricting, new lines are being drawn that could decide who holds power in the Commonwealth and from where they come.

Both committees from the Senate and House are launching town hall meetings this month to hear ideas about how to redraw the lines. But even those have drawn partisan politics. The House committee decided to hold separate hearings from the Senate. Sen. Janet Howell (D-Reston), said she wanted the Republican-held House and Democrat-held Senate to have joint hearings, but was snubbed by the House committee.

The final redistricting will require both bodies of the General Assembly to work together, which could be an awkward dance considering this is the first time in the modern history of redistricting that the legislature is split. Lines are being redrawn every ten years to match up with the new census data.

Del. David Albo (R-Springfield) said, "The redistricting is a bill just like any other bill” so it would need approval from the House, Senate, and the governor.

“This has not been tested before,” said Sen. Ralph Smith, R- Roanoke. “There’s been a lot of motivation to not play games as both parties have been guilty of in the past.”

But others say the term “bi-partisan” that is being thrown around is only a ploy.

“The House will draw their lines, and the Senate will draw their lines, and then they’ll approve each other’s,” predicted Sen. Ralph Northam, D- Norfolk.

Lines are frequently redrawn to protect incumbents he said. “It’s not good democracy.”

Karen Hult, political science professor at Virginia Tech, says there will be a “noticeable change” in the statehouse, with power tilting slightly towards the GOP. Gov. Bob McDonnell, who must approve the redistricting, could be the deciding factor.

But Hult said that a more noticeable change will come from power shifting east to the coastal cities and northern Virginia. As population grows, less of the state is living in southwest Virginia, which could hurt them when lines are drawn.

Lawmakers from the rural part of the Commonwealth are trying to protect their districts.

“You really have to play some games with the lines in southwest Virginia to lose a seat [in the Senate],” Smith, who hails from that area, said.

Hult said the area would likely lose some ground in the House though.

Some lawmakers proposed establishing a redistricting commission that would draw the lines using population mapping technology or a bi-partisan commission. A bill passed the Senate, but was shot down in the House. Although McDonnell supported such a commission during his campaign, he shied away from the issue when it was in the General Assembly.

“The idea of drawing districts gives the incumbent legislator an advantage,” said Sen. Creigh Deeds (D-Charlottesville). He wants to use technology that would evaluate population and demographics to draw the lines. But it looks like time is running out on creating such a commission before the November 2011 deadline.

"You let state legislators decide and you have a hard time convincing them to give up that power," Hult said.