By Jami Palmer
In an effort to block redistricting plans approved by Utah”s majority-Republican redistricting committee, Democrats will stage a protest at the state capitol Monday, Sept. 24.
Democrats are protesting the map passed by the redistricting committee last week, which they say is unfair and highly partisan, according to Allison Heyrend, press secretary for Jim Matheson, (D-Utah).
Tuesday, Sept. 25, Republicans and Democrats in the Utah Legislature will finally have a chance to cast their votes on the redistricting committee”s long-debated and highly emotional battle.
For the past five months, legislators have debated plans for redistricting the boundaries for Utah”s three Congressional seats, 29 state Senate and 75 state House districts.
Dozens of plans — most of them highly partisan — have been drawn and submitted to the legislative redistricting committee by both parties.
And after analysis by the appointed committee of 13 Republicans and seven Democrats, a Republican-drawn plan has been selected to present to the 104-member state Legislature.
“Everybody is going to be heard,” said Rep. Gerry Adair, (R-Roy), House chair of the Legislative Redistricting Committee.
One of the main areas of debate this year has been the 2nd Congressional District. Currently, it is entirely contained within Salt Lake County.
The new map drawn by Republican legislators and passed by the majority-Republican redistricting committee would carve Salt Lake County into three pieces and distribute it among the three districts, making three part-urban, part-rural districts.
Democrats are furious about this plan because it would make the 2nd District more Republican, and disrupt more than 600,000 voters.
Last month, Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson presented his own map proposal of how his 2nd Congressional District should be divided up.
His plan offered moving his district”s Salt Lake City line a few blocks west into the Rose Park and Glendale neighborhoods. The move would shift about 60,000 residents between his 2nd District and the 1st and 3rd Districts.
Matheson said he believes his plan would only allow a “minimal disruption” of current boundaries to occur.
“The whole reason of having minimal disruption is that we live in a political world where people already feel disconnected to their leaders,” Heyrend said. “We should be encouraging people to feel a connection to their elected representatives and promote stability,” she said.
A couple of weeks ago, Matheson”s plan, along with several other plans, was rejected by the Legislative Redistricting Committee.
The plan adopted by the committee last week was drawn up by Republicans, although party leadership isn”t claiming credit for it.
“Not only does it massively disrupt over 600,000 people statewide,” Heyrend said, “it completely re-orders the congressional district maps.”
According to Adair, part of the problem that lies with redistricting is that certain seats have to be changed.
“It is impossible to please everyone,” Adair said.
Matheson has threatened to take legal action against the state of Utah if redistricting plans fail to meet his hopes or expectations and pushes his district “unfairly or unconstitutionally” into rural Utah.
“If this process is not fair and doesn”t follow the legal principles that have been sent down by the courts regarding redistricting, then he would file a legal challenge,” Heyrend said.
Legal action is not Matheson”s priority. Heyrend said he had hoped his efforts in creating his own redistricting plan and making statements would cause the state Legislature to look at this process in a fair manner.
Adair feels like extreme efforts have been made to allow all sides to present their ideas for the new boundaries.
“We have bent over backwards to allow the minority of the people be heard,” Adair said.
“Ultimately, if the state Legislature refuses to listen to the public on this issue,” Heyrend said, “then maybe the legislative leadership needs to hear from the courts.”
Plans whether or not to proceed with litigation will ultimately depend upon whether or not the proposed map is adopted next week.
Matheson isn”t the only individual threatening to sue the state if plans go wrong.
“It is entirely possible there will be more than one legal action,” Heyrend said.
The battle has not only encompassed the division of political parties over existing boundary lines for districts all across the state, but it also has caused questions of racial, religious and gender-based discrimination.
The proposed redistricting map would combine state House seats in such a way to eliminate almost half the Democratic incumbents. Democrats point out that if the legislature passes this map, both of Utah”s Jewish representatives would be combined into a single district. Two female Democrats would also be combined.
According to Heyrend, several minority groups have suggested that they could possibly take legal action.
“We are not targeting any specific person or groups,” Adair said. “We have not discriminated against women or any religion whatsoever.”
The GOP controls the state Legislature by more than a two-thirds majority. If parties were to vote down partisan lines tomorrow, there would not be enough Democrats to affect the outcome.
“This has to be a decision that is made by fair-minded and statesman-like legislaturers,” Heyrend said. “We hope they will do the right thing and the fair thing in the interest of Utahns.”
The Republican response?
“In the final analysis, I believe the Constitution said it allows the right of the minority to be heard,” Adair said, “and the will of the majority of the people to be done.”
During tomorrow”s special session, each member of the House and Senate will vote to approve or reject the proposed new boundaries. Amendments could then be added to the existing proposition. Once cleared through the Senate and House, the proposal will be submitted to Governor Mike Leavitt who will either sign the bill into action or veto it.
