House committee votes to intervene in redistricting lawsuit

House Apportionment and Elections Committee hires Jackson attorney Rob McDuff

REP. TOMMY REYNOLD

JACKSON (Monday, March 21, 2011) – Members of the state House Apportionment and Elections Committee voted today to request the federal court allow the panel to intervene in a lawsuit the NAACP filed over legislative redistricting.

Committee Chairman Tommy Reynolds said intervening, or becoming a party in the lawsuit, will allow his panel to ensure the state House’s interests are heard. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People filed suit Thursday after the Senate failed to approve the House redistricting plan.

“We want to make sure that the interests of the state House are represented in this lawsuit,” said Reynolds, who led House efforts to redraw district lines based on the 2010 Census.

Speaker McCoy statement on legislative redistricting: ‘The matter is settled’

SPEAKER BILLY McCOY

JACKSON (Wednesday, March 16, 2011) – The state House has had it. Leaders are tired of the political games and stonewalling of Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant, who does not want the Senate to approve the House redistricting plan.

Bryant, who serves as president of the 52-member state Senate, is more interested in playing partisan politics with redistricting. He appears to be willing to sacrifice a solid, fair redistricting plan approved by the state House and drag this issue to court.

And Bryant appears ready to force taxpayers to foot the costly and unnecessary bill of funding two legislative elections, one under the current plan in November 2011 and another under new districts that likely would be held in November 2012.

Hmmm. Something doesn’t feel right about this. Let’s see.

Bobby Moak: The real reason Republicans oppose the House redistricting plan

REP. BOBBY MOAK

By BOBBY MOAK

JACKSON (Tuesday, March 8, 2011) – Here’s the truth about why Republicans are upset about the House redistricting plan. Listen to Arnie Hederman, chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party: “The Democrats in the House released their redistricting proposal yesterday, an unfair plan that happens to severely limit our ability to elect a Republican Speaker in 2012.”

Despite Gov. Barbour’s complaints and his misplaced comments about deviations and splits, Republicans are upset our plan does not gerrymander the districts to help them. The House plan is fair to everyone. Our plan doesn’t tilt the balance of power one way or the other.

There’s a conflict between the GOP members in the Legislature and GOP party activists.

The Clarion-Ledger: Senate panel rejects House redistricting plan

JACKSON (Tuesday, March 8, 2011) – Well, Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant got his way: A state Senate panel rejected the state House-approved redistricting plan AND passed a Senate map drawn by – guess who??? – Bryant himself.


We haven’t seen this kind of heavy-handed ruling and arm-twisting in the state Senate in more than 20 years. It seems that the lieutenant governor is intent on throwing himself full-force in executive AND legislative issues. This makes you wonder if he ever heard of “separation of powers.”

The Clarion-Ledger: Phil Bryant balks at plan to put Hattiesburg in majority black Senate district

JACKSON (Tuesday, March 8, 2011) – Witness this incredibly interesting report that paints Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant for what he is – an extremely partisan elected official intent on throwing redistricting into the courts and forcing voters to elect lawmakers for two years in a row.

The Clarion-Ledger reports on Bryant’s motives today. And this is something you have to read to believe. For example, Bryant is balking at a plan to create a black-majority state Senate district in black-majority Hattiesburg.

Why? Because he prefers his own redistricting map that would keep three GOP-friendly districts by splitting Hattiesburg.

The Clarion-Ledger: Contrary to Phil Bryant, redistricting needs oversight

JACKSON (Tuesday, March 8, 2011) – So, our esteemed Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant – who is throwing around his weight like no other lieutenant governor has done in more than 20 years – has a problem with the Voting Rights Act and Section 5.

Hmmm. Well, The Clarion-Ledger took Bryant to task – rightfully so. The Ledger, in an editorial published today, also commented on the blatant partisan politics the Republican Party has infused into the fight over redrawing House and Senate districts.

An excerpt:

It's beginning to be clear why Bryant may not want too close scrutiny of Mississippi's redistricting plans.

State House OKs redistricting plan

JACKSON (Friday, March 4, 2011) – After about an hour of debate, the state House approved its redistricting plan by a vote of 65-56. House members will return in session at 8 a.m. Saturday and could vote to send the plan to the state Senate for a vote.

The redistricting plan is the culmination of months of hard work by the redistricting committee and its staff. The end plan is fair to everyone – and adequately reflects population shifts over the past 10 years. The Clarion-Ledger was one of the first news organizations to file a report on the vote – as well as a roll call of the votes.

House Redistricting Plan: At a Glance

Here is a closer look at the state House redistricting proposal

Redrawing Districts: State House members redraw their 122 districts every 10 years using data from the U.S. Census Bureau; the new districts will reflect population shifts and changes over the past decade.

Voting Rights: Changes to state House districts must meet requirements of the Voting Rights Act of 1965; the U.S. Justice Department must approve a redistricting plan that passes the Legislature.

Public Hearings: The joint Legislative Committee on Legislative Reapportionment hosted 12 public hearings on redistricting during August and September 2010; four follow-up hearings took place Feb. 11 and 12 after the U.S. Census Bureau released finial population data.

State House to consider legislative redistricting plan fair to everyone

TOMMY REYNOLDS

JACKSON (Thursday, March 3, 2011) – A plan lawmakers will consider to redraw state House districts accurately reflects population shifts, protects the rights of minority voters statewide, protects communities of interest, and is fair to everyone.

The proposal, which would redraw all 122 state House districts, cleared the Joint Legislative Committee on Legislative Reapportionment and the House Legislative Reapportionment Committee today. The full House is expected to consider the proposal on Friday.

“This is a fair redistricting plan that uses the latest Census data to adequately reflect population changes over the past 10 years,” said state Rep. Tommy Reynolds, who co-chairs the Joint Legislative Committee on Legislative Reapportionment and chairs the House Legislative Reapportionment Committee.

A few notes about state House redistricting

JACKSON (Tuesday, March 1, 2011) – As soon as we can, we plan to post a quick overview of the state House redistricting plan – including maps that you can view and possibly download for your review and use. We suggest checking back with our Web site often for the latest news regarding redistricting.

Just to clarify how things will work: The Standing Joint Legislative Committee on Legislative Reapportionment will consider the state House and state Senate redistricting plans. After the joint committee gives its OK, the proposals will head respectively to the House and Senate Elections Committees.

Because we are focusing here solely on the House plan, let’s talk about what happens to that proposal. Once the House plan clears the joint committee and then the House Elections Committee, it will head to the full House for consideration. It’s possible the full House could consider the plan the same day or a day later than the full Elections Committee.

The Clarion-Ledger: Redistricting -- Get it done right, once

JACKSON (Tuesday, March 1, 2011) – The Clarion-Ledger chimes in with an editorial today urging lawmakers to redraw House and Senate districts – and avoid a fight that could lead to one set of elections this year in old districts another next year in new ones.

You know, at the risk of sounding repetitive, that’s the exact same message House Speaker Billy McCoy gave in his column that appeared in the Sunday edition of the same newspaper (click here or here to read it in full). Nevertheless, the Ledger makes a good point.

Mississippi GOP responds to Speaker Billy McCoy’s newspaper column

JACKSON (Monday, Feb. 28, 2011) – Following House Speaker Billy McCoy’s newspaper column Sunday on legislative redistricting (click here or here to read it in full), the Mississippi Republican Party was quick to fire back with a response today.

The statement, from state GOP Chairman Arnie Hederman, said the Mississippi Republican Party is pleased that the speaker is endorsing the value of keeping as many precincts intact as possible, respecting historic boundaries and following the guidelines of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

That’s great. McCoy, who is a Democrat, has always emphasized the points he made in his Sunday column. We urge you to read the speaker’s column for yourself – and we are sure once you do that you’ll appreciate his stand on legislative redistricting. Simply put, McCoy’s comments should not surprise anyone.

The Clarion-Ledger: Showtime near on redistricting

JACKSON (Monday, Feb. 28, 2011) – When will the Mississippi Legislature actually consider plans to redraw the state House and Senate districts? Well, a story in the today’s edition of The Clarion-Ledger quotes state Sen. Terry Burton as saying lawmakers could consider the issue as early as Thursday.

Or, Burton – who co-chairs the Standing Joint Legislative Committee on Legislative Reapportionment – said the issue could be pushed back to next week. Either way, it’s coming. And it’s coming soon. Here’s a little of what the story reports:

The new state legislative maps will have to reflect growth in northwest Mississippi around DeSoto County, losses in the Delta and in the eastern-central part of the state around Noxubee and Kemper counties, Burton said.

State House members to consider fair redistricting plan, set stage for 2011 elections

HOUSE SPEAKER BILLY McCOY

By BILLY McCOY

JACKSON (Sunday, Feb. 27, 2011) – In the next few days, state House members are expected to consider one of the most important proposals we will vote on during the 2011 Legislature: a plan to redraw legislative districts for the next 10 years.

To some, this may seem dull and obscure. But I assure you that’s far from the truth because in the end we will safeguard one of the most important principles of our representative democracy – one person, one vote.

Lawmakers redraw legislative districts every 10 years. We will use figures from the 2010 Census to adjust district boundaries and ensure each one has about the same number of people

The Daily Journal: Leaders expect redistricting vote soon

JACKSON (Sunday, Feb. 27, 2011) – Legislative redistricting continues to draw news coverage. The latest is a story that appeared today in The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.

The piece offers a quick look at some of the changes in North Mississippi districts and the comments from state Rep. Tommy Reynolds and state Sen. Terry Burton – the two lawmakers leading the redistricting efforts in the House and Senate – that a vote could happen as early as this week.

AP: New Jersey redistricting: ‘Packing’ and ‘cracking’ at redistricting center

JACKSON (Sunday, Feb. 27, 2011) – Here is an interesting story from The Associated Press, taking a look at legislative redistricting in New Jersey where, the AP reports, “the politics of race is rising up as minority groups demand that their lawmakers look more like the communities they represent.”

Current state House districts, as approved in 2002 redistricting

2002 House Redistricting Map

JACKSON (Saturday, Feb. 26, 2011) – As we wait for the state House to consider a new legislative redistricting plan, here is a look at the 2002 plan that we now operate under. You can click here to download a detailed pdf version of the 2002 House district map.

Then, once you have the map in your possession, compare it with the new one after it clears the full state House.

The Sun Herald: Coast appears unlikely to lose any House seats

JACKSON (Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2011) – It's been news for a while, now. As a matter of fact, state Rep. Diane Peranich of Pass Christian even mentioned it in an interview with WLOX-TV in Biloxi that was broadcast on Sunday, Feb. 20, 2011.

Now, The Sun Herald finally picked up on it. In a story filed for the Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2011, edition of The Sun Herald, the newspaper reported thast the Coast will keep all of its districts in a proposed House redistricting plan. In other words, the Coast will not lose any seats.

Clarion-Ledger looks at legislative redistricting

JACKSON (Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011) – The Clarion-Ledger filed an interesting report on legislative redistricting on Tuesday, saying that lawmakers are expected to consider plans for the House and Senate possibly next week. Here is what the Ledger reported:

State lawmakers charged with crafting Mississippi’s new legislative districts will have plans up for review on the House and Senate floors next week, if all goes according to plan.