Party control over redistricting

[Torie]

California has some complicated commission with equal numbers of registered Democrats and registered Republicans.

Anyways, yes, those PA, OH, and MI governor races are important. If the Democrat wins, they can block some extreme Republican gerrymander. The main reason that the Republicans have the legislature in those states is their gerrymander.

The commission only draws state legislative district lines, not congressional ones. So the GOP needs to hold the governorship, to effect split party control of the process. Whitman I think has a reasonable chance with her deep pockets, and because I don't think Brown is well positioned to run in an environment where the state is effectively BK.

[Torie]

CA will be using a nonpartisan commission for the 2010 cycle. Prop 11 passed in 2008.

I read somewhere that, that only dealt with the State legislature. And it said that if it had dealt with US House seats Pelosi would have mobilized millions to defeat it.


The GOP should back non-partisan redistricting reform. Historically the Democrats have dominated the process, only in 2002 did the GOP dominate by controlling the big states.

I stand corrected, I was getting ahead of myself. It is likely, however, that there will be an initiative in 2010 to give congressional redistricting to the now created commission. Given that the commission now exists and if the electorate is angry with the status quo, then I think that such an initiative would stand a good chance of passage.

Cool. Now I really want to get on it.