Kansas GOP Insider (wannabe): Redistricting 2.0 -- This Time it's Even More Dumber

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Redistricting 2.0 -- This Time it's Even More Dumber

So this seems like a terrible idea.

Senate President Susan Wagle is open to attempting to redistrict the Kansas Legislature. The state is required to redistrict every 10 years two years after the decennial U.S. Census. They of course failed in 2012, and the courts did the job for them.

Redistricting was delayed and messy, and the Republicans still won in a landslide, despite district lines that I thought (wrongly, it appears) favored less-than-conservatives. The lines aren't perfect, and I'm not particularly happy with my own district.

It is unclear whether the legislature is legally able to redistrict more often than prescribed. It shouldn't be tested. This is Pandora's Box.

Right now, it seems like a grand idea -- conservatives swept the state of Kansas like a Colorado wildfire in July. BUT that may not always be the case. Less than six years ago, almost every statewide administrative office was held by a Democrat.

If in the future there is some anomaly that sees the Democrats take a majority of the state legislature, do we want them redistricting in an off year just to give themselves an added push down the road? The answer is no.

And let's not forget what people in power tend to do with power: Abuse it. I can see a future in which every legislature redistricts just to shore up their power. Why run in a district that is +7 Republican when you can redraw the lines to give yourself an even greater advantage in two years?

I am not impressed with this discussion and if members of the Legislature have one single wit amongst them, they will shut it down quickly. 

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