Reply #5: And don't forget other Rethug attempts/successes [View All]

[Whoa_Nelly]

Gerrymanders getting vicious

By The Helena IR - 01/11/04

The controversy over Montana's latest redistricting is pretty much settled for now. Challenges to the Districting and Apportionment Commission's new legislative boundaries have been overturned, and the only issue remaining is where to assign a handful of "holdover senators."

The state Supreme Court is expected to rule by Feb. 3 on whether that is the purview of the commission or the Legislature.


<snip>
Some examples:

In Texas, where Democratic legislators fled the state twice in a futile attempt to prevent Republicans from muscling through a second redistricting in two years, the new map will change that state's congressional delegation from 15 Republicans and 17 Democrats to 22 Republicans and 10 Democrats. (In Colorado, a similar attempt to push through a second, mid-decade redistricting was overturned by the state's high court; the new Texas plan has been approved by a panel of three federal judges.)


In Michigan, where the vote in 2002 was 49 percent Democratic and 48 percent Republican, gerrymandered districts meant that the Democrats' 9-7 edge in Congress turned into a 9-6 Republican advantage. (The state lost one congressional seat after the 2000 census.)

In Florida, where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than 300,000, the GOP holds an 18-7 congressional edge, largely because of redistricting. In the Legislature, Republicans enjoy an 81-39 majority in the House and a 26-14 advantage in the Senate.

In Pennsylvania, redrawn districts given names like the "supine seahorse" and the "upside-down Chinese dragon" gave Republicans a 12-7 congressional edge even though, statewide, half of Pennsylvania's voters cast ballots for Democratic candidates.


http://www.helenair.com/articles/2004/01/11/opinions_top/a04011104_01.txt