I went through redistricting, and all I got was this lousy “Foul-Mouthed” Sandy Pappas and Rena “Voter ID is a Jim Crow Law” Moran. If you’re a Republican in Saint Paul, “redistricting” is like, well, moving from Pyongyang to Pyongyin.
It could have been worse; I’m across the street from my old 66B, which is now the turf of John Lesch.
Overall? It wasn’t a horrible map for the GOP – there are a slew of outstate open seats that broadly seem to favor the GOP (I’ll do some analysis over the weekend when I have some time, here).
But the more I talk with activists around the state, the more I realize that the DFL got its money’s worth for everything they’ve spent on judges over the decades. Gary Gross at the Examiner writes:
Representative Sarah Anderson [who led the Legislative redistricting effort] said that the court-drawn is troubling in that the courts didn’t appear to follow the rulings they handed down prior to their final maps.
Rep. Anderson said that the court-drawn maps split up more cities and counties than did the legislative maps.
Rep. Anderson that the court-drawn map drives up the costs cities will incur in administering elections. They’ll have to order multiple versions of ballots. They’ll have to put more polling places together to guarantee that the ballots don’t get mixed together, thus creating an election night nightmare.
The legislative maps stuck to the rules handed down by the Minnesota Supreme Court in 2002. This court didn’t adhere to those rules, thereby destabilizing the redistricting process. That essentially means that this court has put itself above the political branches. Their final maps puts them essentially in charge.
This was a redistricting cycle that should have gone a lot worse for the DFL. Their turf shrank catastrophically, and the GOP’s territory boomed. The judges seemed to have bent over backwards to keep the DFL from losing any unnecessary influence.
“The judges seemed to have bent over backwards to keep the DFL from losing any unnecessary influence.”
Color me unsurprised. But thanks for all the legwork on this, Mitch.
That five judge panel apparently HATED SD 49 (Andover, Ham Lake, part of Coon Rapids). They split it up into four new districts (31, 35, 36, 37), threw Republican House members Peggy Scott (49A) and Brandon Petersen (49B) together into the new 35B, and threw Republican senators Michelle Benson (49) and Mike Jungbauer (48) together into the new 31.
Call me paranoid, but I can’t see how that was mere coincidence.
But the more I talk with activists around the state, the more I realize that the DFL got its money’s worth for everything they’ve spent on judges over the decades.
WHAT money that the DFL spent on judges exactly?
Or are you perpetuating the false statement made by Bachmann about Democratic judges doing the redistricting? There were two judges appointed by two different REPUBLICAN governors; two judges appointed by one Democratic governor (Perpich) and one judge appointed by an independent governor, Ventura.
So exactly WHAT money are you referring to here? The fact is that no one is ever really happy about redistricting results, and that every redistricting going back to the 1950s in Minnesota has gone through the courts.
This is not a corrupt redistricting, whether or not you happen to like it – or not.
You aren’t doing any legwork here on which to be congratulated; you’re just promoting more disinformation.
Penigma’s Chihuhua fails to recognize that Arne Carlson was/is a RINO. And that the “independent” Ventura governed much more like a D than an R. Fact check that!
DogGone, why didn’t the judges follow the rules set down by the MN Supreme Court?
WHAT money that the DFL spent on judges exactly?
They money they spend on making sure their constituents vote for “the right” judges for elected seats, and the money they spend lobbying “the right” appointments. that’s what money.
There were two judges appointed by two different REPUBLICAN governors; two judges appointed by one Democratic governor (Perpich) and one judge appointed by an independent governor, Ventura.
Carlson was no REPUBLICAN – indeed, his philosophy on redistricting (“give the DFL what it wants and maybe they won’t hurt me”) set this state back twenty years. And Ventura was an “Independent” who spent his whole term cuddled up with Roger Moe (at the behest of the people who pulled his wires, Dean Barkley and Tim Penny).
When you want to cry “FACT CHECK”, do us all a favor and don’t stop at the “Facts” that support your half-thought-out position. Deal?
This is not a corrupt redistricting, whether or not you happen to like it – or not.
Didn’t say it was. You’re making things up again. LIke it or not.
You aren’t doing any legwork here on which to be congratulated; you’re just promoting more disinformation
(Sigh).
No, DG, nothing of the sort. But you’re doing what the lefty alt-media handbook tells its foot soldiers to do; find things to blow out of context into things they’re not.
You’ll need to get a lot better at it.
The more I study the districts, the more mystifying I find them. What happened in SD49 is really odd. By the same measure, the redistricting in my area (I’m now in SD41) didn’t do the DFL any favors, either, and may end up sandbagging my current rep, Copenhagen Kate Knuth. She lost half her old district and got paired up with Tom Tilberry to boot. It’s always been clear that the DFL had big plans for her and now she’s in a tough spot. Darn shame, that. 😉
The more I see the US Legislative Districts and how they divided the state into 8 districts of equal population, the more I think the job was done correctly. Many have said that Taryl Clark moving to Duluth makes her a “carpetbagger” and afraid to run against Bachmann, then what does that make Michele Bachmann? Courageous?
I traded in my old, busted Betty(!) McCollum for John Kline….schwiiiing!
OJ, Bachmann is running in the same district she’s been representing for two terms. Having your home moved into a new district by some lefty judges ain’t carpetbagging.
“Or are you perpetuating the false statement made by Bachmann about …blah, blah, blah…”
I can’t help it. Everytime DogBone drops in to share her excreta with us I can’t help but think about this oldy but goody: http://bit.ly/hctQE3
I traded in my old, busted Betty(!) McCollum for John Kline….schwiiiing!
Congrats on getting a representative who actually represents you, Swiftee.
I almost got sent out of CD4, too; the folks who live behind my hedge are in a different district. Unfortunately, they’re in CD5.
Dear Dog Gone,
Will you please get off your “Fact Check” obsession?
You do not seem to understand the concept of “argument by authority” and its weaknesses.
You might want to reflect on why you think that “argument by authority” is so meaningful to you.
That is all.
Love,
Terry S,
And beyond that, DG, you might want to reflect in addition on why you find “argument by authority” – which seems to be the only trick you know – to be so utterly dispositive.
It’s not.