Redistricting Hearing #1: “Did [Democrats] Have a Bowl of Crack for Breakfast?!”
By D.J. Spiker | Sunday, April 3rd, 2011 | Policy, PoliticsOne Jimmy Frost of Virginia Beach, in the growing public outcry at the Democrats openly-admitted attempts to gerry-mander Virginia Beach (population 400,000+) into one Senate district, with fractions consuming the rest of the city.
Democrats have gleefully announced their plans to draw State Senator Frank Wagner and State Senator Jeff McWaters into one district, yet their attempts to do so resulted in Wagner being paired with Chesapeake State Senator Harry Blevins.
Quotes from the first public hearing on redistricting:
Disgraceful. Vindictive. Mean-spirited. An abomination. Insulting and possibly illegal.
“Did you guys wake up and have a bowl of crack for breakfast?” asked Jimmy Frost of Virginia Beach. “If you strip a senator from us, we’re going to remember in November.”
“It pains us to see the dismemberment and disenfranchisement of the city of Virginia Beach,” said Gary Byler, chairman of the 2nd District Republican Committee.
“There’s no good reason this should happen to our resident senator,” Chesapeake City Councilwoman Debbie Ritter said. “Please, do not take our city and throw us into the trash heap.”
Pete Burkhimer, Chesapeake Republican chairman, called Blevins’ proposed district, which snakes in a great semicircle from the Dismal Swamp to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, “absurd on its face.”
Given the population comparisons in the Hampton Roads area, stripping a seat from Virginia Beach is outright politics while underserving the constituents in the city. Democrats have had a long history of the Justice Department rejecting their blatant attempts at manipulating the populace, in this case in a naked power grab to hold on to their last vestige of power.
See y’all in court.
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Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right...entrenched on the right as a member of the Establishment, proudly tattooed member of the Republican Party, bartender by trade serving both sides the libations needed to continue the debate and discourse. College student, ten years late, majoring in Public Policy and Administration with an eye to serving the conservative and Republican movement in the public or private sector. ducit amor patriae You can find D.J.on facebook, Twitter, or contact via email at gosport.conservative@gmail.com. You can find D.J.on facebook, Twitter, or contact via email at gosport.conservative@gmail.com.
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12 Responses to "Redistricting Hearing #1: “Did [Democrats] Have a Bowl of Crack for Breakfast?!”"
It would be great if districts could be drawn so that Va Beach is two neat and complete districts.
The Democrat proposal carves Va Beach into 4 districts. So does the Republican proposal.
These Senate districts are complete nonsense. Probably the most gerrymandered and politically-edged attempt at control ever seen in Virginia.
…and this from the party asking for “non-partisan redistricting” before the census. Way to live down to your own standards, fellas.
Get the House to stop the same game and I’ll bet they’ll stop in the Senate. Just saying…
And who has been pissing in your Corn Flakes?
How can you trash the Senate Democrats when the House Republicans do the same thing?
They tried for years to get nonpartisan redistricting and now that the time has finally come around they aren’t going to sit on the sidelines while the Republican House goes to work. Come on, you know better than that. Instead of a cheap political attack, why don’t you just come out and support nonpartisan redistricting.
They didn’t have a bowl, they went on a feeding frenzy.
William, is this really just partisan or is Hampton Roads being targeted as a region? You can call Miller of Norfolk a partisanship casuality of evil Republicans, but are you sure it isn’t NOVA?
William and ToR,
These quotes are coming from citizens on both sides. Not hacks or paid consultants. Just because two Republican officials were willing to go on the record doesn’t mean they’re the only ones speaking out. There was a live tweet feed for the hearing and overwhelmingly it was negative against the Senate plan.
FYI: Its “politics” and **it happens. I’m sure the House plan is getting blasted just the same…
It is part of the game.
the Dem blogs are just as unhappy with the Dem Senate redistricting plan. so I would say that both sides are dumbfounded by Sen. Howell’s gerrymandering.
What a shame to waste another moment discussing this issue. To those who moan about the results, but did not support a non partisan redistricting process, please, put a lid on it.
In regard to the Beach, it is ironic that neither the delegates nor the senators in our delegation ever felt they represented the city of Virginia Beach. They always made it clear they represented the voters in their district. So what’s the fuss? If we, the citizens of the Beach, are now represented by four senators, not two, haven’t we gained influence?
Shaun: The big mistake Republicans made was in not taking Democrats up on the “non-partisan” redistricting bills. Look at the plans drawn by the college students, who didn’t have an ax to grind. Because Democrats tend to be packed in small urban areas and because of the VRA requirements, if you really took “compact and contigous” as your criteria, it’s very difficult to draw a plan where Dems win more than 17 Senate seats. That may not really be representative of the relative strengths of the parties, because you’d be creating several “super Dem” majority districts, with 70% Democratic votes. Would have been good for the GOP though.
As far as this being “the most gerrymander….etc. ever,” well, memories are short.
Senate Dems have drawn what they hope is a +2 plan for them. That’s the same thing Republican Senators did in 2001.
This year’s House plan is about +4 in the short run (more after a couple of retirements), far less agressive than either the Rep. House plan in 2001 or the Dem House plan in 1991.
Mike, sounds good on paper having 4, but your point about them feeling they represent their districts argue against it. It goes like this:
“Well, sure a tiny portion of my district contains parts of Virginia Beach, but if I can bring home the bacon for Hampton, Newport News, etc. etc, selling out a few VB voters is very much on the table.” – hypothetical thinking process
And if Norfolk gets it from the House by losing Miller, who knows how much our region’s political strength will fall. It also strips senority! You have to start over. Hell, they already tried their damn best to sodomize us with HRTA! The rest of the state wants to give us ZERO tax revenue and just have us tax ourselves to death.
I’m wondering if Hampton Roads shouldn’t just secede from Virginia.
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