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Old 02-18-2010, 11:24 AM
 
Location: Lost in Montana *recalculating*...
19,395 posts, read 22,337,580 times
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Census Results Could Lead to Redistricting Changes - WBOY-TV - WBOY.com (http://www.wboy.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=75370 - broken link)

Quote:
West Virginia's loss of a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1991 was a painful experience of the implications of the decennial census.
"The original reason for the census was to apportion representation in Congress," said Tony Galante, office manager of the U.S. Census Bureau's Charleston office.

"That remains its fundamental reason for being," Galante said. "The state is not expected to lose a congressional district this year, but (the 1990 experience) shows the importance of participation."

Although Census 2010 will not produce such a dramatic and disappointing outcome for West Virginia on the national stage, some juggling among the state's remaining three congressional districts will take place. And meaningful changes are expected here at home, where common wisdom has it that census-directed redistricting could dilute the influence of the West Virginia coalfields at the national and state levels and promote Eastern Panhandle interests in Charleston.

Redistricting Congressional Representation
Once the state Legislature gets Census 2010 figures in early 2011, the West Virginia Legislative Redistricting Office will use geographic information software to look in detail at the population distribution across the state, according to Jo Vaughan, a redistricting analyst in that office.

This decade's Congressional districts have followed county boundaries, but Vaughan isn't sure that's going to be possible for the coming decade.
Population estimates for 2008 for West Virginia's counties show significant shifts since 2000. Democratic Rep. Alan Mollohan's 1st Congressional District, in the northern part of the state, lost about 7,000 people since 2000. According to estimates, population gains in the Morgantown area failed to keep up with losses in the Northern Panhandle. That loss is minor compared with changes in the other two districts.

The 2nd District, which stretches across the center of the state from Mason County to Jefferson County, represented by Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, gained more than 33,000 people. That growth mainly is linked to the rapid growth of Berkeley and Jefferson counties in the Eastern Panhandle.

And the 3rd District, home to Democratic Rep. Nick Rahall, experienced the loss of more than 18,000, mostly from the counties furthest south.
"You're supposed to have exactly the same population for each congressman unless there is something that justifies not doing so -- which we have been able to because we have been able to stay within a one percent difference while respecting our county boundaries," Vaughan said.
"But I don't think that's going to be feasible this time." There is some allowance for maintaining "communities of interest," she said -- keeping parts of the state that have similar needs in the same districts.

If the congressional districts can once again be bounded along county lines with only a small disparity in populations, that argument might justify it. What effect might this have on coalfield influence at the national level?
"Rahall's coal representation will be watered down," said Robert Rupp, political science professor at West Virginia Wesleyan College. "The 3rd Congressional District has to go north and when you venture north of the Kanawha River, you're going to dilute the coal characteristics of the district."

State Senate
Those same population shifts could have a bigger effect on the state Senate. The biggest population losses have taken place in the 6th Senate District of H. Truman Chafin, D-Mingo, and John Pat Fanning, D-McDowell, which includes those counties and parts of Mercer, Wayne and Wyoming counties. Significant losses also have been recorded in the southern and central 5th, 7th, 9th, 10th and 11th Senate districts as well as in Kanawha County, which encompasses both the 8th and 17th. In total, those districts lost nearly 27,000 people from 2000 to 2008.

Gains have taken place mainly in eastern districts, particularly the 15th and 16th Senate districts. Population in those two districts alone has increased by about 38,000 people. With the coming redistricting, Rupp sees a set-up for an "old guard, new guard" dynamic.

"We're going to see the established politicians (in the south) trying to redraw the boundaries to help them," he said. "But it's still going to be, somewhat, new districts for old politicians. You might see some interim fighting or, at least, established politicans having to campaign in new areas." Republic Party Chairman Doug McKinney sees that as creating opportunities for his party. "There's going to be some real change in some of the senatorial districts in West Virginia and that will be pitting some of the Democrat senators against one another," he said.

Meanwhile, new seats will be created in the Eastern Panhandle. "But there's no political infrastructure -- you don't have established political families, 'clans,' we can call them," Rupp said. "So while in the southern part they're going to scramble to save their districts, in the panhandle there's a scramble to find new people to fill the new districts." Asked if he expects to see a decline in the influence of coal in the state Legislature, Rupp drew a distinction. "I think there's a difference between coal -- what's good for the coal counties -- and the symbol of coal, which even in non-coal counties is very important. Coal is on our flag. It's deeply woven in the state's culture and politics," he said. "But having said that, just the fact that it looks as if the 'coal counties' are going to be losing representation is just another sign that this state is in transition," he continued.

House of Delegates
A bipartisan bill introduced by Del. Daryl Cowles, R-Morgan, in the 2009 regular legislative session would have established 100 single-member House districts across the state, eliminating the current practice of allowing multi-member districts in some places. The 2009 bill did not pass, and McKinney expects another bill to be introduced in this session.

The Republican Party believes that it would gain under a single-delegate-only scenario. McKinney said that Republicans hold nearly half of the single-delegate districts, a much greater representation than among all districts statewide.

West Virginia State Democratic Party Executive Director Derek Scarbro said his party sees it as a local issue: Single-member districts make more sense in some parts of the state, and multi-member districts make more sense in others. If such a bill passed, it would mean a major redrawing of the current map of 58 House districts.
Pretty interesting to see the use of the word 'clans' when describing the southern part of the state. Political families, etc..

I'd imagine some pipestem redistricting will occur. No way will these guys go out or get watered down without some hanky-panky behind the smoke filled doors...
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Old 02-18-2010, 12:40 PM
 
Location: Western Pennsylvania
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I can remember when WV had five house districts.
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Old 02-18-2010, 06:55 PM
 
Location: Lost in Montana *recalculating*...
19,395 posts, read 22,337,580 times
Reputation: 24096
Now you're dating yerself!
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Old 02-19-2010, 03:41 PM
 
Location: Elkins, WV
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5 ???? lol you did just date yourself.. ha ha I was around when we had 4, but only for 3 years... ha ha
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Old 02-20-2010, 06:40 AM
 
10,147 posts, read 14,976,094 times
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I remember the five house districts too.

The southern politicos can only stem the tide for awhile,
because eventually they will be in the minority. There
is no way they can stop the loss of some representation
in the State Senate there and the concommitant gains
in the Eastern Panhandle. And over time, as those changes
solidify Eastern and North Central politicos will do their own
district redraws to benefit themselves.

These changes provide perhaps the best opportunity our
State has seen in a century to bring about truly positive
change and move from the dead last catigorization to
growth and progress. The status quo bozos have been
so entrenched in keeping their localized power base and
pork system in place it has caused huge damage to the
State as a whole and major impediments to development.

The gradual end to the Boss Hogg political climate is only
a matter of time.
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Old 02-20-2010, 08:09 AM
 
Location: Western Pennsylvania
2,429 posts, read 7,214,340 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GottaHerdOn View Post
5 ???? lol you did just date yourself.. ha ha I was around when we had 4, but only for 3 years... ha ha
You're such a young pup, GHO . This was back in the day when the Senators for WV were Jennings Randolph and Chapman Revercomb, during Cecil Underwood's first stint as governor.
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Old 02-21-2010, 09:24 PM
 
Location: Elkins, WV
1,981 posts, read 5,969,560 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by snorpus View Post
You're such a young pup, GHO . This was back in the day when the Senators for WV were Jennings Randolph and Chapman Revercomb, during Cecil Underwood's first stint as governor.
lol I went to Jennings Randolph Elementary. Never heard of Chapman Revercomb though. I'm assuming he was the jr. senator?
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Old 02-21-2010, 09:40 PM
 
Location: Western Pennsylvania
2,429 posts, read 7,214,340 times
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Revercomb was senator only from 1956 to 1958, when he was defeated by some guy named Byrd.

Actually, my previous post was a bit in error. Revercomb was the junior senator from 1943 to 1949, when he lost to Mathew Neely. Neely died in early 1958, and John Hoblitzell was appointed to fill out the term. But Hoblitzell lost in November 1958 to Jennings Randolph. Revercomb, in the meantime, had been appointed in 1956 to finish the term of William Laird. So Revercomb was the senior senator (Hoblitzell being the junior) from 1956 to January 1959.

So both Byrd and Randolph were elected in November 1958, with Randolph serving until January 1985 (the November 1984 election), when Jaybird assumed the seat.
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