Welcome to this week’s edition of “REDMAP Rundown,” a synopsis of redistricting news brought to you by the RSLC’s REDistricting MAjority Project (REDMAP). This weekly report gives you the latest on what those in the beltway, and across the country, are saying about the impending reapportionment and redistricting process.
It is all about the states in this week’s “REDMAP Rundown.” From Florida to Nevada to California, state office-holders and special interests continue to gear up for a fight.
The Las Vegas Sun reports that Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller “is facing questions from political opponents over his appearance alongside UFC fighters in an ad encouraging Nevadans to participate in the U.S. Census. The ad — which features Ultimate Fighting Championship fighters, an octagon girl, UFC President Dana White, and Miller urging people to send in their census forms — has prompted the Nevada Republican Party to accuse Miller, a Democrat, in an ethics complaint of using taxpayer money to further his political career.”
And in Florida, “voters may find more redistricting questions greeting them at the ballot than they know what to do with. And critics say that may be the point. The Senate Ethics and Elections Committee held a special meeting Thursday to cue up a redistricting resolution that materialized last week, a move to provide more ‘clarity’ to two reapportionment ballot questions already heading to voters in November.”
The Denver Post writes that it is getting “nasty” after “a Democratic-backed plan to change rules on congressional redistricting [was] introduced late last week. … House Bill 1408, sponsored by House Majority Leader Paul Weissmann, D-Louisville, would eliminate a law Republicans passed in 2003 that dictates factors a court is to consider if the legislature fails to draw up a redistricting plan.”
“A petition drive to change the Illinois Constitution’s legislative redistricting rules appears on the verge of falling short of the signatures needed to bypass the General Assembly and get before voters on the November ballot,” according to the South Town Star.In the West, “Officials say nearly 5,000 Californians have taken the second step to serve on a panel that will redraw the boundaries for state legislative districts. State Auditor Elaine Howle announced Tuesday that about 20 percent of the initial eligible applicants submitted a supplemental form for the Citizens Redistricting Commission. The supplemental application period closed Monday.”
“The political action committee founded by Ed Koch to reform government in Albany is hoping to make it harder for incumbents to stay in office through the creation of an independent commission to redraw legislative districts, the former mayor announced today.”
And Texas Governor Rick Perry rounds things out this week, telling the Texas Tribune, “Anyone who says ‘Let’s take politics out of redistricting’ is either naive or has another agenda that I have a hard time identifying. … I think the process will work. It has worked for a number of years. It has never been pleasant. And it can work without going into a special session. People need to stick around and do their jobs.”
The RSLC is the only national organization whose mission is to elect down ballot state-level Republican office-holders. For more information or media inquiries, please contact Adam Temple at 571.480.4891. If you would like to recieve this report in an email, please click here