Bipartisan redistricting plan passes House and Senate; Kitzhaber to sign Monday
Kari Chisholm
Today, the Oregon House and the Oregon Senate voted to pass the compromise legislative redistricting maps assembled by the bipartisan co-chairs.
The vote was 27-3 in the Senate and 47-10 in the House. Voting against were Senators Jason Atkinson (R-Central Point), Doug Whitsett (R-Klamath Falls), and Betsy Johnson (D-Scappoose); and Representatives Debbie Boone (D-Cannon Beach), Jason Conger (R-Bend), Tim Freeman (R-Roseburg), Vic Gilliam (R-Silverton), Bob Jenson (R-Pendleton), Greg Matthews (D-Gresham), Mike McLane (R-Powell Butte), Patrick Sheehan (R-Clackamas), Jim Weidner (R-Yamhill), Gene Whisnant (R-Sunriver).
The Governor will sign the bill Monday. From his statement:
“The passing of the redistricting plan is another example of the legislature working at its best, in a bipartisan way. It’s satisfying to see the continued focus on problem solving rather than partisanship. I look forward to signing the bill on Monday,” said Governor Kitzhaber.
Not much word from legislators that were opposed, except yesterday's Daily Astorian which notes the objections from Sen. Johnson and Rep. Boone:
"I am very disappointed in the redistricting and I am going to vote no," Johnson said. "I am extremely gratified that the new map puts me back in the district to represent Clatsop County but my constituents and friends in Tillamook County are distraught. The current plans cut Tillamook in half and, in their opinion, disenfranchises the county." ...
"I like parts of it and I don't like parts of it," Boone said. "The part I don't like is that we tried really hard to keep Tillamook County whole, but at the end of the day, they split it and the city of Tillamook is actually cut in half. "I am happy about having all of Clatsop County. I've lived here since 1974 so I know it well and should I gain it now, I know a lot of people and players so it's not a huge or steep learning curve for me." One other part Boone was not pleased with is the gain of more of Washington County, which in the proposal, would make her district larger geographically, adding Banks.
Given the strong bipartisan vote in favor, and the bipartisan nature of the opposition, I expect that most of the objections are this sort of specific complaints about particular districts. For example, Whisnant, Conger, and McLane all serve adjacent Central Oregon districts. Republicans have long complained about the donut/donut-hole nature of the Bend districts - a setup that remains in the new map.
Rep. Kevin Cameron (R-Salem), who voted in favor, had this to say:
"It should be recognized that this plan is based on the current plan, which 10 years ago was gerrymandered to give Democrats maximum political advantage...The threat of sending this process to yet another Democratic Secretary of State was an important issue in these negotiations. While we appreciate the willingness of the Democratic Co-Chairs to work with us, this plan is neither fair nor balanced."
The new map is available on the legislature's mapping site. There's also a zoomable, Google-map powered version from Moonshadow Mobile.
And since I've had a lot of questions lately about how to use the Moonshadow system, here's a couple of quick tips:
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First, turn off the silly red density dots. (The yes/no toggle is broken, so just turn the opacity down to 10%.)
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Second, click on the "State House" scenario. It'll open up and show you four maps - the current (outgoing) map, the House Map 1 (Democratic plan), the House Map 2 (Republican plan), and the Co-Chair proposed House map. Click on the little eyeball icon to turn on those boundaries.
And just like that, you've got maps. Like any Google map, use your mouse to click-and-drag and scrollwheel-zoom in and out. For the record, I have no financial interest in Moonshadow Mobile, a Eugene company. I'm just a fan of how fast and intuitive this particular technology is.
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2:10 p.m.
Jun 10, '11
Kari, what's your take on this result?
2:31 p.m.
Jun 10, '11
Well, it's really, really hard to understand the implications of a redistricting map by just staring at the map.
When you're looking at the map itself, your eye is naturally drawn to the big areas - while sometimes the important shift is a small shift of a neighborhood here and there.
2:36 p.m.
Jun 10, '11
I also just updated the post with a quote from Rep. Kevin Cameron.
If you're keeping score by who's mad, well, I guess his quote lends credence to the idea that this is a good map for Democrats.
I'd disagree and object to his assertion that the 2001 map was "gerrymandered". After all, they hung on to the House until 2007 - and on average, the GOP has had a much higher percentage of seats than they've had support statewide in terms of registration or votes.
10:08 p.m.
Aug 3, '11
I'm impressed that the legislature was able to do this. Given that the cards were mostly in Democratic hands (controlling the Senate, Governor's office, and Secretary of State's office), it's a credit to all those involved that they found an answer that garnered such broad auto transport companies support.
And Kari, I'm amused by the juxtaposition of "I've had a lot of questions about how to use Moonshadow" and "I'm a fan of how intuitive it is." Maybe it's intuitive to techno-wizards like you? :)
5:52 p.m.
Jun 10, '11
I'm impressed that the legislature was able to do this. Given that the cards were mostly in Democratic hands (controlling the Senate, Governor's office, and Secretary of State's office), it's a credit to all those involved that they found an answer that garnered such broad support.
And Kari, I'm amused by the juxtaposition of "I've had a lot of questions about how to use Moonshadow" and "I'm a fan of how intuitive it is." Maybe it's intuitive to techno-wizards like you? :)
9:17 p.m.
Jun 10, '11
Ha! Good catch!
It's true that the interface takes a little figuring out (not helped by the fact that a few of the visible features are disabled on the public version.)
But it's the only one of the four I've used that doesn't require a look at the documentation. That said, it's still a complex mapping tool, not Space Invaders.
11:52 a.m.
Jun 11, '11
Well as noted before they did it to Southern Wasco Co. We now have nothing in common with any of the other communities in our new district- at least before there was some connection with the Dalles and Madras- Out here in the hinterlands on one care or notices much- We get a new Senator as well- no great loss there- Huffman is pretty much just a bump on the log and it was embarassing to admit Ferrolli was you senator. (I'm supposed to write a letter to him- uh huh?) So now we have Smith and Nelson- don't know much about them. I won't matter much as we are now the furthest flung nowhere in their little worlds. Looks like 59 may be a little more pro-D with this plan although there's still plenty of Neanderthal territory.