Tag: District

It hasn’t been easy for Torres Small, a moderate Democrat, to talk about immigration in a way that appeals to both sides of her solidly purple district: to the immigration advocates who accuse Border Patrol of actively contributing to the deaths of Jakelin and Felipe and to the agents who say they did everything they could to save them. She’s here to meet with Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, the newly elected member from El Paso, and Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee. ICE and Border Patrol agents abuse children and lie about it. So Torres Small says it again, and again and again. The morning after Jakelin died, Torres Small drove two hours from Las Cruces to Lordsburg, where Jakelin had been taken for medical attention, and another 90 minutes to Antelope Wells, where she had entered into the United States from Mexico. Lordsburg, home to just under 2,500 people, has the nearest hospital. Jakelin arrived at the port with 162 people, too many for one bus. Torres Small is happy that so many of her colleagues want to come to her district. But sometimes she feels like the trips just serve to further divide the border conversation. “You should be able to see the border, somewhere around there,” she says.

“But when nine out of 10 districts in the Congress are totally uncompetitive because they’ve been drawn in such a way that the politicians actually choose their voters, rather than voters choosing their politicians, in a very naked, transparent, and inarguable way, that election is rigged,” Buttigieg told a crowd of mostly Northeastern University students on their Boston campus Wednesday, referring to the effects of partisan gerrymandering. The South Bend, Indiana mayor — who is expected to officially launch a Democratic presidential campaign on April 14 — said a similar rational applies to the way the country elects its presidents. Buttigieg is hardly the only 2020 contender in the Democratic primary field who supports nonpartisan redistricting and getting rid of the Electoral College. And unlike his competitors, the 37-year-old mayor says those reforms need to include a restructuring of the Supreme Court. “The number of Supreme Court justices has already changed,” he said, referring to the Republican-controlled Senate’s unprecedented blockade of Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland in 2016. “They changed it to eight,” Buttigieg said. “And then they changed it back after they won.” Buttigieg says arguments that Democrats are introducing the idea of so-called “court packing” often ignores “the extent to which the Senate has already shattered some of these norms.” Critics of the Supreme Court say the institution has recently become overly politicized — and, as a result, more conservative during the Trump administration and likely to strike down any big legislative agenda items passed by Democrats. Both of Trump’s two Supreme Court appointments were recommended to him and bred by conservative political groups. “One that I find very appealing — devil’s in the details, but it’s appealing in principle — is you have 15 justices, but only 10 of them are appointed through a traditional political process [i.e. the president and the Senate], Democrats and Republicans,” he said. For example, Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican majority leader, recently labeled the sweeping government reform bill passed by House Democrats, which would end partisan redistricting in federal elections, as a Democratic “power grab.” “Unfortunately, if your side stands to lose from a more representative system, then it may look to you like the other side is gaining power,” Buttigieg told reporters Wednesday before his appearance at Northeastern.

Grant Foster Because I love Madison and I want to do everything I can to make it an even better place to live. My professional experience and skills combined with the knowledge and experience I gained working within Madison’s city government have prepared me to be a very effective leader on the Council and a strong advocate for District 15. I’ve been very involved with city governance for the last five years and have an in-depth understanding of city processes, the work of the council, and the major issues facing our community. The Milwaukee Street Special Area Plan was also just approved by the Common Council and it looks to capitalize on the excellent public transit access by adding significant housing as well. It will also bring greater opportunity to improve access to public transportation for those that live and work in the district. This is both an exciting and pivotal time for our city, Madison, with projected growth in population over the course of the next few years. In addition, as a first generation immigrant, I will bring diversity to the council and will work hard to ensure all segments of the city are represented. Our city is growing and with growth, comes change. It is pertinent for council members to listen and gain input from their respective communities and work collectively to maintain our strong and diverse communities as part of the legislative and oversight function. Our communities are evolving and the council has the opportunity to impact the lives of its residents positively and make our beloved city, the best that it can be for all.

Two candidates are running for the District 2 seat on Madison's City Council. On TLNA, where I lead and guide neighborhood input when evaluating development proposals, my appreciation of the concerns of neighbors, as well as the needs of both the city and developers, has grown. Due to years of advocacy for my neighborhood, District 2, and the City of Madison, I understand city processes, the important role of city staff and how city ordinances are crafted and enacted. My years of working with District 2 neighbors on parking, traffic issues, and pedestrian/bike safety, gives me the knowledge to represent and convey the District's diversity of opinions on Common Council. I'm a community organizer who has been organizing the community for progressive candidates. The 2nd District has more than 1,000 new housing units since our last competitive alder election. Our next alder needs to engage these new residents and bring everyone into the political process. Madison has an affordable housing crisis. I want to see us rewrite our neighborhood plans more often and ask neighborhoods themselves to find places to accommodate new growth. Since then, the people of my community have given me a sense of place that I have never had anywhere else.

Kim Raff for The New York Times NEPHI, Utah — In the suburbs of Salt Lake City, Representative Ben McAdams, a freshman, was grilled by constituents about the “socialism” and “anti-Semitism” that they saw coming out of the new Democratic House. In Michigan, Representative Haley Stevens was asked about her ability to counter what one voter deemed the bigotry of some of her freshman colleagues — a concern fueled partly by remarks from her counterpart in nearby Detroit, Rashida Tlaib — and “the negative attitude they bring to Democrats.” And on a rainy Saturday in Spotsylvania County, Va., one woman stood up in a town hall to remind Representative Abigail Spanberger that while she was the first Democrat to hold that seat in nearly 50 years, the majority of the rural enclave had voted Republican. “Since the Democrats are now the party of death and taxes,” the woman said, as Democratic supporters scoffed and grumbled, “just how do you propose to effectively represent the taxpayers of Spotsylvania?” It was Democrats like Mr. McAdams, Ms. Stevens and Ms. Spanberger who secured the party’s House majority, political moderates who won districts often long represented by Republicans. Their talking points appear to be resonating with some voters the Democrats will need next year if they are to keep their majority — and the voters determined to flip the districts back. Richard Hansen, a Republican county commissioner and one of the two dozen constituents who attended the town hall in Nephi, a mountain town of 6,000, shared a wish with the Utah Democrat: “I hope they don’t corrupt you.” “They won’t,” Mr. McAdams pledged. I don’t know where the Democratic Party will go, but I tell you what, I will stay in the center. They also accuse Republicans of hypocrisy in their accusations of anti-Semitism in the Democratic ranks, set off by Twitter comments by Ms. Omar, who implied that American support for Israel was fueled by money from a pro-Israel lobbying group. “It didn’t come as a shock at all,” Ms. Stevens said in an interview after a town hall in Milford, Mich., a General Motors town, referring to the questioner who asked about anti-Semitic remarks. “We will see,” she added as she left. People can tell you anything.”

When political consultants were scouring the state’s 2016 election results two years ago, they found three Texas congressional districts where voters had kept Republican incumbents in office while also favoring Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump. Now there are new results to pore over, courtesy of the Texas Legislative Council, and a new list of possible targets for the next election. On the other side, Cruz didn’t prevail in any of the districts won by Democratic congressional candidates. CD-7, a Houston district now represented by U.S. Rep. Lizzie Pannill Fletcher, a Democrat, was the third district on the previous election cycle’s target list — a district held by a Republican incumbent but won by Clinton. But that district’s voters, on average, remained just on the Republican side of the partisan line last year: The average Republican beat the average Democrat in statewide races by 0.2 percentage points. All three of those districts will be on anyone’s preliminary 2020 list — and would be there no matter which party’s candidate won the last election. Statewide Republicans won in that district by 4 percentage points, on average. Trump won by about 6, but O’Rourke won by 3.5 percentage points. One big difference between the 2016 and the 2018 elections in Texas was the overall strength of Democratic candidates. Republicans won every statewide race in both of those years, but the margins were very different: In 2016, the Republican candidate beat the Democratic candidate by an average of 14.1 percentage points.

We don’t want to wait until 2020 when it is a political (election) year,” said State Sen. John McCollister of Omaha. The two were among four lawmakers who laid out redistricting proposals at a hearing before the Legislature’s Executive Board. Both said they want to create a process that is fair and nonpartisan and that provides for citizen involvement. >> Legislative Bill 253, introduced by McCollister, would create an independent citizen commission to draw up new district boundary proposals for U.S. Congress, the Legislature, the Public Service Commission, the Nebraska Supreme Court, the State Board of Education and the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. It requires the commission to ignore the political party of voters and previous election results and to avoid improperly diluting the voting rights of any group based on race or language. If lawmakers rejected the initial set of proposals, the commission would be required to draw up a second set of proposals. It would put the job of drawing new district boundaries in the hands of the director of legislative research. A special legislative Redistricting Committee would hold hearings in each of the three congressional districts on the initial boundary proposals. >> LB 467, introduced by Sen. Tony Vargas of Omaha, would allow only population numbers, not other demographic factors such as race, language or household makeup to be considered in redistricting. The bill mirrors language used in the Legislature's 2011 redistricting resolution, he said.

The Oregon League of Women Voters certainly hopes so. Meanwhile, Wilsonville residents who attended the meeting provided thoughts on redistricting and the League's proposal. In the vast majority of states including Oregon, the state legislature decides how district lines are drawn. Oregon is not said to be one of the most gerrymandered states in the United States. House District 26 representative-elect and Wilsonville resident Courtney Neron attended the meeting and said she would support taking redistricting powers out of the Legislature's control. "I'm all for a fair process," she said. Under the current system, Poff and Wilsonville resident Marge Easley worried that Democrats could use a potential advantage in the state legislature to gerrymander districts when redistricting takes place in 2021. Interestingly, as Johnson pointed out, over the last 100-plus years the Oregon State Legislature has rarely passed a redistricting plan. When the Legislature fails to pass a plan, the secretary of state takes control over state legislature redistricting and federal courts help decide Congressional districts. "Any system should include safeguards and processes when things happen.