It took Speaker Dave Clark (R-Santa Clara, District 74) less than three days after the failure of Fair Boundaries to propose a redrawn political map that screams of partisan gerrymandering that would strongly favor Republicans.
As many of you may know, Utah could have received another congressional district during the last round of redistricting if the census bureau would have counted, amongst other things, missionaries. In preparation for a court victory that never came, the legislature drew up four legislative maps that would give Salt Lake County its own district and the remaining three districts would consist of a hybrid of urban and rural districts. But, because we never got that fourth district, the legislature used the current map today where every district has an urban and rural component.
Now the Republicans logic behind this is representatives will…well, I don’t exactly know what the logic is; it certainly is not in the best interest of the people.
While on the campaign trail for Fair Boundaries, I would often point out that Representative Matheson is charged with voting for what is in the best interest of his constituents in Salt Lake City and Saint George…at the same time. Now love him or hate him, the simple fact of the matter is that the needs of these two areas are very different, and on any particular vote, he is probably going to let someone down within his distirct.
But Speaker Clark does not care about out actually representing the people of Utah, no he cares about ensuring that Republicans gain and stay in power, and this rehashed plan certainly does that. By coming out this early he has already sent the message that he has made up his mind about how districts should look – unfair, undemocratic, and unbelievable.
Bravo Speaker Clark. You are influencing the process before it even begins and you are doing it so brazenly that it is disgusting. Furthermore, you get extra points for waiting less than a week after Fair Boundaries failed to prove why it needed to succeed – this system is broken and power brokers like you are more than happy to make sure it stays the way it is.
Shame on you Speaker Clark.
It doesn’t surprise me that the Republicans are attempting to gerrymander a new district. It also wouldn’t surprise me to see Democrats do the same thing in a massively Democratic state. This doesn’t mean I am excusing the action of those representatives (and if anything I think this is the reason we need projects like Fair Boundaries), just that I expect it…though perhaps not so quickly after Fair Boundaries finished. Tactless in their timing, that’s for sure.
Hey Curtis,
How about giving the Tribune some credit here instead of just pretending this came out of the ether. Also, you’ve misconstrued the map you linked to. That’s not Clark’s proposal. That is the current three-seat map and the four-seat map approved by lawmakers back in 2001 in case the state got a fourth seat.