Redistricting Errata Friday
I spoke to Rep. McGee about her proposal for a bipartisan redistricting commission in 2011. She says that she will be reintroducing her constitutional amendment resolution in the 2007 legislature. I’ll write again next week about some ways we can make the proposal better, including structuring it as a law rather than a constitutional amendment so that we need only half plus one rather than two thirds support in the legislature.
Bob Bernick wrote a very good piece about Utah interim redistricting in the Deseret News.
Utah’s fourth seat just got much more likely in the past day when Congressman Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) was appointed to chair the very important House Select Committee on Intelligence. Hearty congratulations from Brian’s Utah Weblog to Congressman Reyes. The unexpected promotion of Reyes from third in seniority to chairman over Congressmen Harman and Hastings changes the internal Washington politics of the D.C. seat and the fourth seat in Utah. For the first time, this fourth seat is reasonably likely to happen, though I’d still guess the odds are less than even.
Vote in the fourth seat poll in the right hand column of the Brian’s Utah Weblog main page. Rumor has it that the RNCC might want to make some last minute edits to the map.

December 2nd, 2006 at 10:38 am
Brian, as always, good work on your reporting. Let folks know also that the House Dem’s blog: http://utahhousedemocrats.com/ also has a poll asking if we should just do away with this whole redistricting system and implement an independent commission … a la Rep. Roz McGee’s proposal. The Republicans seemed to have found the poll also and are beginning to vote, also.
December 4th, 2006 at 11:34 am
Thanks, Lee.