Since the end of January a spiteful cadre of Republican state senators, the Conservative Caucus, has delayed consideration of a new Congressional map for Missouri because it didn’t give them what they wanted – a high probability of seven Republican and just one Democrat member of Congress.
So, time and again when the Senate had real work to do, the conservatives filibustered, often reading books aloud from the well of the Senate.
On March 24th the Senate finally showed off their Congressional map and voted to send it to the state House for review. Comments from various senators mentioned how many members were involved and the tremendous amount of work to reach the compromise most could accept. Ironically, it’s pretty much a sure “six and two” map, like the current split in the Congressional delegation.
I’ve seen the map: reading books aloud was much more productive…
- The Third District, now held by Blaine Luetkemeyer, picks-up the bulk of St. Charles County and eastern Boone County. What had been a small town and rural dominated district now becomes suburban, with the majority of its voters in the St. Louis media market.
- Oh Second District, we hardly recognize you: instead of consisting of parts of St. Louis and St. Charles counties – plus a sliver of Jefferson County – the new Second includes parts of Franklin, Washington, St. Francois and Iron counties. Washington County has long been one of the poorest in the state. Iron’s not doing so well either. The eastern Ozarks have different concerns than Manchester and Mehlville.
- The new Eight District starts in Arnold and goes south to Arkansas and west to greater Branson. The good news is that this map ends JeffCo’s sliced existence in three districts (Second, Third and Eight). Still, how much do people in Shannon County have in common with High Ridge – besides the Walmarts?
- Don’t expect too many TV ads for candidates in the Sixth District. Running from Kansas , Nebraska and Iowa to Illinois, it takes in the Kansas City/St. Joseph, mid-Missouri, Kirksville and St. Louis TV markets. Per google maps, the distance from Troy, Missouri out to Maryville, Missouri – both in the district – is 288 miles. The trip from the far northwest corner of the district to the Mississippi River in Lincoln County is farther than the distance from St. Louis to Chicago.
Now, a closer look at the boundary between the First and Second District [ www.stlpr.com has the best maps of each of the eight districts] finds the creation of crazy peninsulas, with Richmond Heights/Webster Groves, Affton/Lemay, and, Maryland Heights protruding from their neighbors. Likewise, the new lines in St. Charles County place St. Charles and St. Peters in the Third while the Second snakes up to grab Dardenne Prairie and part of O’Fallon. Gerrymandering quickly gets ugly.
Remember, it didn’t have to be this way. The legislature could have opted for compact districts with clean lines. Neither the House nor the Senate did that, preferring to micromanage the process.
The really bad news: the fight probably isn’t over. I think it unlikely that the House will accept the Senate map as presented. To their credit, the House submitted their crappy back in January. If the north and south chambers of the Capitol can’t agree, well, two lawsuits to have the courts draw the maps have already been filed. A court-drawn map me be the best chance to get decent districts which better represent communities of interest about the state. And, a fair map would probably result in three Democrats and five Republicans going to Washington.
Don’t hold your breath. This matter may not get resolved much before the Primary Election in early August.
Glenn Koenen