Arizona Republicans Already Working On 2020 Gerrymander Plan

BY JOSH ISRAEL/Think Progress

Unhappy that an independent redistricting commission devised maps it deemed too independent for the 2012 elections, Arizona Republicans are already scheming to rig the redistricting process after the 2020 elections to be more favorable to their party.

Under Article I, Section 2 of the the U.S. Constitution, states determine how to divide their U.S. House districts after a federal census held every decade. While many states let their state legislatures decide on their redistricting maps, Arizona voters opted in 2000 to entrust the process to an independent redistricting panel. By design, the commission consists of two Democrats, two Republicans, and one independent. Its maps must include districts, drawn from scratch, that are “roughly equal in population.” They are encouraged to also make districts as compact as possible, respectful of the federal Voting Rights Act, respectful of communities of interest, and — if possible — politically competitive.

Though the Congressional maps approved by the commission in 2012 did just that, Gov. Jan Brewer (R) and her Republican legislative majorities attempted to remove the independent chairwoman because they found the map too competitive; the state Supreme Court rejected this power grab as illegal.

Determined not to suffer the same fate next time, Roll Call reported Monday, Arizona Republican Party Chairman Robert Graham has formed a new committee of GOP election experts to monitor the 2020 redistricting process. And one party strategist told the publication that effort includes attempting to rig the process by finding an independent who will vote with Republicans: “The key to Arizona redistricting is that you need to find an independent who is on your side,” the unnamed consultant said.

Why Americans Actually Voted For A Democratic House

By Ian Millhiser/Think Progress

Although a small number of ballots remain to be counted, as of this writing, votes for a Democratic candidate for the House of Representatives outweigh votes for Republican candidates. Based on ThinkProgress’ review of all ballots counted so far, 53,952,240 votes were cast for a Democratic candidate for the House and only 53,402,643 were cast for a Republican — meaning that Democratic votes exceed Republican votes by more than half a million.

Two caveats are necessary in considering these numbers. The first is that all ballots have not been counted, so these numbers will change somewhat as more returns trickle in. (Because the remaining ballots are more likely to be from Democratic-leaning west coast states, it is likely that the Democrats’ margin will increase somewhat over time.) The second caveat is that these numbers include several California districts where two members of the same party ran against each other, and they do not include districts where a single candidate ran unopposed. Nevertheless, the fact remains that the nation is very closely divided over which party should control the House, with Democrats appearing to enjoy a slight edge.

The actual partisan breakdown of the 113th Congress will be very different, however. Currently, Republicans enjoy a 233-192 advantage over Democrats, with 10 seats remaining undecided. That means that, in a year when Republicans earned less than half the popular vote, they will control a little under 54 percent of the House even if Democrats run the table on the undecided seats.

There is a simple explanation for how this happened: Republicans won several key state legislatures and governors’ mansions in the election cycle before redistricting, and theygerrymandered those states within an inch of their lives. President Obama won Pennsylvania by more than 5 points, but Democrats carried only 5 of the state’s 18 congressional seats:

Similar stories played out elsewhere. Obama won Virginia, and Democrats took 3 of 11 House seats. Obama won Ohio, but Democrats carried only 4 of 16 seats in Ohio’s House delegation.

Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), however, cannot simply thank Republican state lawmakers for enabling him to keep his job. He can also thank the conservatives on the Supreme Court. Partisan gerrymandering exists for one purpose: to cut off the ability of people who disagree with a state’s ruling party to influence future elections. It is a a clear violation of the First Amendment, which absolutely prohibits viewpoint discrimination. Yet the Supreme Court abdicated its responsibility to end this discrimination in its 5-4 decision in Vieth v. Jubelirer, where the conservative justices tossed out a lawsuit alleging that Pennsylvania’s congressional districts were unconstitutionally drawn to maximize Republican representation in Congress.

Americans voted for a Democratic president, a Democratic Senate, and, barring significant shifts in the vote tally, a Democratic House. Instead, they will get a House majority similar to the one that held the entire nation hostage during last year’s debt ceiling hostage crisis. If the American people wanted this to happen, they would have said so at the polls on Tuesday. Instead, Republican state lawmakers took away their right to democratically legitimate leadership — with a big assist from the conservatives on the Supreme Court.

Judge Overturns Republican Redistricting Plan For Oakland County

From CBS Detroit:

PONTIAC (WWJ) Judge William Collette from Ingham County Circuit Court issued a ruling Wednesday overturning the controversial legislation that would have allowed Republicans in Oakland County to redo redistricting — reportedly to their advantage — prior to the 2012 election.

“We are glad that Judge Collette saw the “Republican Powergrab Bill,” for what it was – an outrageous attempt by Republicans to change the law, just for Oakland County, for Republican political gain,” said Frank Houston, plaintiff and Chairman of the Oakland County Apportionment Commission, who successfully sued Governor Snyder  on the constitutional grounds of Public Act 280. 

Collette’s decision stated:

“(The Act) violates the Michigan Constitution, Article 4, Section 29’s prohibition on local acts, violates the Headlee Amendment’s prohibition on unfunded mandates, and violates MCL 46,406 by impinging on Oakland County voters’ rights to petition for judicial review of the reapportionment plan.” 

The decision allows for lawyers fees to be covered by the state and county and reaffirms the court’s decision that taxpayers were unconstitutionally responsible for the potential costs of redoing redistricting in Oakland County – a process that approached six figures in 2011.

“Justice is truly blind. It sees neither the left nor the right. It sees the truth, and today truth prevailed, the people have won,” said Eric Coleman, former Oakland County Commissioner and past President of the National Association of Counties.

There’s no word yet on whether Governor Rick Snyder and Oakland County Republicans will take the case to the Michigan Court of Appeals. If they don’t, the Apportionment Commission plan that was approved last spring and upheld previously by the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court.

But Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson seemed ready to keep the fight going.

“Today’s ruling by the liberal Ingham County Circuit Court is a Phyrric victory for the Democrats.  Ingham County Circuit Court has a long record of ruling in favor of Democrats, only to be overturned by higher courts. This matter will be settled in the Michigan Supreme Court,” Patterson said in a statement.

Democrats saw it a different way, with Democratic Commissioner Gary McGillivray saying, “I hope that both our County Executive and Governor stop wasting taxpayer dollars on these political games so we can all get back to work on the issues voters really care about… “In my district people care about finding good paying jobs, property values and having quality services.” 

The case played out in the background of L. Brooks Patterson’srecent state of the county address – Patterson didn’t invite Democratic county commissioners, citing the lawsuit. Dems held their own state of the county and lashed out at Patterson for “playing politics.”

MDP Chair Mark Brewer Issues Statement on Governor Snyder Signing Gerrymandered Redistricting Bills

Could I be the most corrupt
governor ever? I could be. 

From Michigan Democratic Party

LANSING – Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer issued the following statement on Governor Snyder’s decision to sign the GOP Legislature’s gerrymandered redistricting bills into law.

“Governor Snyder’s decision today to sign into law politically and racially gerrymandered redistricting maps, breaks his promise to voters that he would be a moderate and bipartisan governor. Just like 10 years ago, Republicans have used the redistricting process to tip the scales in their favor by disenfranchising voters. Voters deserve fair and competitive districts. Voters should be the ones who pick their elected officials – these maps instead allow elected officials to pick their voters.

“These bills were rammed through the Legislature with little public notice and no public input. The Republican Legislature ignored alternative maps which better complied with both state and federal law. We are extremely disappointed in Governor Snyder for not standing up for a fair, transparent, and bipartisan process which would have given voters a choice and a voice. Governor Snyder and the Republicans have instead ignored the needs of the voters with these politically and racially gerrymandered maps.”

Black Caucus Denounces Redistricting Map

From CBS Detroit

DETROIT (WWJ) - The Michigan Legislative Black Caucus is denouncing the State House and Senate redistricting map.  WWJ Newsradio 950′s  Florence Walton reports the group of Black Lawmakers is accusing Republican Lawmakers of violating the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

The Republican (State) redistricting map splits southeast Detroit in half, that’s just one of the problems with the map according to the Democratic Black Caucus attorney, Melvin Butch Hollowell who says the GOP map drawn dilates the minority vote and he says it violates the Federal Voting Rights Act.

“That act provides under Section II that there shall be no dilution in the strength of people of color to enact and elect candidates of their choosing,” said Hollowell.

The state Democratic Black Caucus is threatening a lawsuit if a compromise can’t be reached.

Democratic Members of the Michigan Congressional Delegation Release the Following Statement on GOP Redistricting Map

From Michigan Democratic Party:

LANSING – A statement from the Democratic Members of the Michigan Congressional Delegation on the Michigan Congressional redistricting map as introduced today in the state legislature:

“We are very disappointed in the partisan hijacking of the redistricting process. Never in Michigan’s history has a redistricting map been gerrymandered to be so overtly partisan and disrespectful of community interest to build a partisan political advantage. This map zigs and zags throughout Southeastern Michigan to create non-competitive seats that do not represent the demographics of the state and will ultimately disenfranchise voters.

“The people of Michigan deserve Congressional districts produced by the state legislature and signed by the Governor that will ensure fair representation in keeping with Michigan’s history of competitive districts that respect communities of interest. The people of Michigan deserve to choose their Representatives in Congress – this map clearly was drawn to let the Republican Representatives choose their voters.”

Motor City Liberal Comment: This is what I warned people all last year, the Michigan Republican Party's corruption is only match by the Texas Republican Party and they will jerk around with the state if they get power. 

So Mr.and Mrs. self righteous more liberal than thou because you didn't vote you may go from living in a reasonable slightly Democratic district where your representative may had been John Dingell or Gary Peters to a mind raping ignorant ass Republican district where Mike "Special K" Rogers or Candice "Have another Donut" Miller is now your representative.