Another Blow to Indies as Massachusetts Independent Redistricting Goes Down

The losses continue for Independents as the Democrats in Massachusetts vote down a proposal for an independent redistricting commission. This ruling comes in the wake of the removal of open primary voting in Idaho by a federal judge.

UTAH CLOSED PRIMARIES BLOG TALK

• Sis: GOP Solons Will Close Primaries (Spokesman Review/Huckleberries Online)

• Federal Court Declares Open Republican Primary Unconstitutional (Submitted by Sisyphus, 43rd State Blues blog)

INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING

• Mass. Redistricting panel rejected - Democrats vote down GOP plan (By John J. Monahan, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE) House Democrats today killed a GOP proposal for an independent redistricting commission to redraw state and federal legislative district boundaries in advance of the 2012 elections, sticking to earlier plans to have a committee of state legislators produce the new redistricting maps.
• Independent Redistricting Commission off to a rocky start (By Barbara McCullough-Jones, Arizona Progress) According to a recent article by Jason R. Jurjevich and Michael Burnham 33 states allow their Legislatures to draw district lines while the rest, like Arizona, utilize an independent redistricting model.
• Former N.Y.C. Mayor Ed Koch sets sights on Senate GOP (Rochester Democrat & Chronicle) Redistricting, done every 10 years after the census, is the highly charged political process that sets district boundaries, and has the potential to seal the fate of a political party's power for a decade. State legislative races are rarely competitive, in part because districts tend to contain an overwhelming number of voters in one party.
• Capps: ‘I’m Running’ (by JERRY ROBERTS, Santa Barbara Independent) The unusually early maneuvering by Capps, reelected just four months ago, and by Maldonado, a longtime GOP fixture who was beaten out for Lieutenant Governor by Democrat Gavin Newsom last November, reflects a dramatically new political dynamic confronting all California candidates. For the first time, an independent citizen’s commission is in charge of the every-10-years task of redrawing the maps for congressional and legislative districts, based on the 2010 Census; simultaneously, the state’s election rules have substantially changed after voters approved a ballot initiative last June aimed at boosting the chances of moderate candidates in primary races, dominated in recent years by members of the right and left wings of the two major parties who’ve been able to run in gerrymandered districts.

COLORADO

• Colorado Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Case over Discriminatory Contribution Limits (Ballot Access News) The name of the case in both courts is Riddle v Ritter. The first-named plaintiff, Joelle Riddle, is someone who wanted to contribute $400 to the candidate-plaintiff, Kathleen Curry. All the briefs in the Colorado Supreme Court are due by late April 2011.

A Great Divide...

There is a great divide in our country between elected officials and those who put them in office--the voters. In New York and Massachusetts, ordinary citizens voted for non-partisan redistricting 72% and 66% respectively. Yet in Massachusetts, the concept was completely butchered by the state legislature 34-5--makes sense? No...

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Tomblin Comments on Judiciary Committee's Vote Supporting Primary Election (WBOY 12 - West Virginia Media) To not allow for a primary would disenfranchise all independent voters as well as eliminate the opportunity for our military serving overseas to express their choice.”

REDISTRICTING

• Massachusetts Senate rejects implementation of independent redistricting commission (Ballot News) On January 12, 2011, a poll was released showing that 66 percent of Massachusetts residents support putting an independent commission in charge of redistricting. Only 23 percent of respondents said the legislature should continue to be in charge of redistricting.
• New Yorkers strongly disfavor state legislature handling redistricting, according to poll (Empire State News) Support for independent redistricting is strongest, 70 – 21 percent, among independent voters and is over 60 percent among all other groups.
• Back to court - Another questionable question (EDITORIAL Tulsa World - OK) On Monday Clark W. Duffee, an Edmond man who ran for Congress as an independent candidate, filed a lawsuit that argues that the new process stifles the voices of Oklahoma citizens who aren't members of either party, and it does. At last count there are 240,855 registered independent voters in Oklahoma - more than 11 percent of the total.

OBAMA

• Obama gets second chance from independents (By Michael Maslansky, Special to CNN, CNN Opinion) Independents seem willing to give the president the benefit of the doubt. Almost on cue, independents reacted positively at the mention of bipartisanship, so he was wise to fill this speech with examples of government doing what's best for the people, not just what's best for the party.

EDUCATION REFORM

• The politics of Rhee (Ben Smith, Politico) Now Rhee is in the process of a shift from political naif to full-fledged power broker. She has created an emphatically political new organization, StudentsFirst, and she told POLITICO she hopes to raise and spend an astonishing $200 million annually – a large sum even in the deep-pocketed world of education philanthropists.

Let's just rely on "experts" again..they know what's fair

A huge win for voter reform took place in a Washington State courtroom; U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour rejected arguments by the major parties that the proposed system under the law confused voters who might misinterpret a candidate's party preference as an official endorsement by that party. Coughenour however rejected these claims stating that the ballot and its accompanying information concisely and clearly explain that a candidate's political-party preference does not imply any endorsement or association with that party and that the instructions actually eliminate the possibility of voter confusion and a threat to the First Amendment. The most important aspect of this upholding is that it creates a precedent that weakens opponents arguments on the fight over California's Prop-14. An attempt at redistricting reform took place in Massachusetts but was completely shot down 34-5. The new bill presented a redistricting commission headed by a panel of experts. This differs greatly from California's redistricting commission which has a quota for its partisan and non partisan members. This is by far more fair than the Massachusetts proposal, and leaves more opening for change.

OPEN PRIMARIES

• WASHINGTON STATE OPEN PRIMARY RULING HELPS WEAKEN POSSIBLE LEGAL CHALLENGES TO CALIFORNIA'S PROP 14 (by Greg Lucas, CAIVN) In his 24-page ruling upholding most of the Washington law, US District Court Judge John Coughenour (CQ) rejected arguments by the state's Republican, Democratic and Libertarian parties that the system confused voters who might misinterpret a candidate's party preference as an official endorsement by that party.

REDISTRICTING

• MA - Senate Democrats scuttle independent redistricting panel (By Kyle Cheney, Dedham Daily News Transcript) Tarr pointed to a recent poll showing that 62 percent of Massachusetts residents support an independent redistricting commission, and he also pointed out that Secretary of State William Galvin had voiced support for an independent advisory panel. Sen. Robert Hedlund (R-Weymouth) argued that independent redistricting commissions appeared to be “gaining favor” around the country.
• MA - Beacon Hill Roll Call: How did you legislator vote? (By Bob Katzen, EXCERPT Wicked Local Stow) The commission would include a dean or professor of law, political science or government from a Massachusetts institution of higher learning appointed by the governor; a retired judge appointed by the attorney general; and an expert in civil rights law appointed by the secretary of state. The other four members would be chosen by the above three members from a list of candidates nominated by the House Speaker, House Minority Leader, Senate President and Senate Minority Leader.
• MA - Let’s talk . . . in 10 years (EDITORIAL By Boston Herald) The state’s track record on transparency and fairness in redistricting isn’t exactly stellar, but the Senate rejected 5-34 a bid to appoint an independent redistricting commission.
• NY - New York State Sen. David Valesky, D-49, to discuss redistricting Jan. 22 (Oneida Daily Dispatch) Valesky is the co-sponsor of the Valesky-Gianaris redistricting bill that would establish a non-partisan redistricting commission.
• CA - UPDATED: Scott Wilk: Redistricting: You now have a voice Right Here, Right Now! (By Scott Thomas Wilk (The Santa Clarita Valley Signal) Proposition 20 was approved by 61.3 percent of voters last November and added the task of re-drawing the boundaries of California's congressional districts to the California Citizens Redistricting Commission. According to the California Citizens Redistricting Commission's website, we join 12 other states that use independent commissions to craft redistricting plans. The new commission is comprised of 14 members: five Republicans; five Democrats; and four Independents.

OBAMA

• Obama's approval rating jumps - At the midpoint of Obama's term, an NBC News/Wall Street poll shows an 8-percentage-point increase since December, to 53%, and Gallup says more independent voters now approve of his performance. (By Michael A. Memoli, Washington Bureau, LA Times) Most heartening to the White House was the improvement of Obama's numbers among self-identified independent voters. According to Gallup, 46% now approve of his performance, up from 41% during the lame-duck session and an all-time low of 38% in July.
• Shields and Brooks on GOP's Repeal Effort, Obama's Overtures to Business, China (PBS News Hour) Mark Shields: I don't think the independent voters have returned to their positive rating of Obama, which they have for the first time Obama since August of 2009, based upon his overtures to Tom Donohue and the Chamber of Commerce and Jeffrey Immelt and the Fortune 50.

REPUBLICANS

• The GOP’s Demographic Ills (By Asher Smith, Emory Wheel - Emory University Ohio) Ohio serves as a microcosm for a more general problem afflicting the Republican party. At the 2009 Republican National Convention (RNC), held in St. Paul, Minnesota, an astonishing 93 percent of delegates were white. In the 2006 elections, 69 percent of Latinos, 57 percent of women, 90 percent of blacks, 60 percent of voters under 29 and 57 percent of independent voters voted Democratic. At the 2004 RNC, a slightly less staggering but still disproportionate 85 percent of delegates were white. Only 6 percent were black.

NEW YORK

• Operatives on the Move (By David Freedlander, NY Observer/Politicker) Helmstetter comes to the WFP from Blue State Digital, the online fundraising firm that worked on Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.