Jackson Free Press

Jackson Sen. Hillman Frazier called upon city residents to crowd the halls of Hinds County Circuit Court this month to voice their concerns about redistricting.

Hinds lost population," said Frazier, a Democrat representing a district in a largely Democratic county. "The Mississippi Delta lost population, and they are in danger of losing representation in the Legislature. We have to protect their interests going forward because you could actually lose a representative in Jackson."

The Joint Legislative Committee on Reapportionment and Redistricting is conducting public meetings across the state over redrawing the state's 122 state House districts and 52 Senate districts. Lawmakers must redefine the state's districts every 10 years to match changes in population revealed by the U.S. Census.

Frazier said the Jackson public needs to make its interests known to the committee, especially considering Hinds County's drop in population density over the last 10 years.

The Senate subcommittee will draw the Senate plan, and the House subcommittee will draw the House plan based on comments and Census information, and together will pass a resolution that both chambers must approve.

"Once it's adopted by the House and Senate, it'll go to Washington for approval," Frazier said. "We still have to get it cleared by the (U.S.) Department of Justice because of our history as a state, how we went from 63 black legislators in 1876 to zero black legislators due to racist redistricting. The DOJ wants to make sure we don't do that again."

The issue is likely to become a battle this year as Republicans and Democrats fight for influence and to avoid losing a district. Legislative redistricting in 2002 cost the state four state politicians their districts:* one Senate district and three House districts. It also forced two incumbent Republicans to vie for influence over a single new district created from two districts in the northeastern part of the state. The fight officially begins in 2011 after the state receives the new population figures from the Census count.

As it stands, both the House and Senate have tossed together two very partisan committees. The House Committee, with its nine Democrats and one lone Republican, will likely favor districts strengthening the Democrat presence in the state.

Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant, meanwhile, has created a committee consisting of five Republicans and five Democrats--but three of the Democrats on the committee almost always vote with Republicans on every issue. The Democrats include Sens. Tommy Dickerson of Waynesboro, Cindy Hyde-Smith of Brookhaven and Jack Gordon of Okolona. Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory, supported some controversial Republican positions during the 2009 legislative session, such as opposition to a tax increase on tobacco, but has since parted ways with Republicans on some education-funding issues. Frazier is the Senate committee's lone African American member.

Political reporter Bobby Harrison wrote in The Sun Herald last month that the Legislature may not rubber-stamp House and Senate plans as they have in the past, and political author Jere Nash said the issue could end up mired in partisan bickering that could lead to a court decision.

"For the first time in the history of the Mississippi Legislature one house is now threatening to muck with the redistricting plan of another house. The Republicans in the Senate have talked openly about the House plan as fair game when it comes over to the Senate, that if they don't like the way the House Democrats have drawn the plan then they feel comfortable about amending it and sending it back," Nash told the Jackson Free Press.

The House could easily retaliate with a mimic reaction, but if the two chambers cannot come to terms with a redistricting plan, Nash said the issue could go to a three-judge panel consisting of a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge and two district court judges chosen by the chief judge of the 5th Circuit--conservative Ronald Reagan appointee Edith Jones.

A similar situation arose from the Legislature's inability to agree on a redistricting plan after the 2000 Census, and a three-judge panel redrew the state's congressional districts in February 2002, almost in exact accord with Republican preferences.

"If they do the same thing with legislative reapportioning this year that they did with congressional reapportioning 10 years ago it's up to the federal courts to redraw the plan ... and the majority of all those judges are Republican," Nash said.

"You know what happened when the three-judge panel redrew the congressional plan three years ago, so you see the beauty of (the Senate's) strategy."

Like Frazier, Nash advocates the importance of a high turnout at Hinds County Circuit Court, since any court complications following the re-districting plan will force the court to examine commentary gathered at the public hearings.

"If the DOJ decides to really get involved in this, if they become concerned the Legislature is attempting to retrogress, they all will look to the public record that the committee built (from public forums). ... They will want to see if the committee had people talk to them about what ought to be in and what the district ought to look like, and they will want to see if the committee listened to that," Nash said.

The hearing will be 6 p.m. Sept 15, in Hinds County Circuit Court, 407 E. Pascagoula St., downtown.

* Words were added to this sentence after publication to make it accurate. See explanation in comments below.

Previous Commentsshow

This paragraph doesn't make sense particularly the sentence that I've highlighted in bold font: The issue is likely to become a battle this year as Republicans and Democrats fight for influence and to avoid losing a district. Legislative redistricting in 2002 cost the state one Senate district and three House districts. It also forced two incumbent Republicans to vie for influence over a single new district created from two districts in the northeastern part of the state. The fight officially begins in 2011 after the state receives the new population figures from the Census count. The state can't lose districts in the state legislature at least not yet via the Census. Areas in Mississippi that lost population may lose seats and areas that had significant increases will likely gain seats-- gerrymandering notwithstanding of course. :-)

Ex

Sep 8 2010

I'm confused by this in the sense that I always thought that if a district loses population, and another area gains population, then the district that lost population also lost some reps, and vice versa. Is this not the case?

bill_jackson

Sep 8 2010

Bill-- One man, one vote. If certain areas of the state grow at a large rate, then districts that had previously been associated with other areas could be transferred. For example, the current state senate districts are set up so that Senate District 19 is in DeSoto County because Hinds County (where if I recall correctly a goodly portion of District 19 pre-2000 was located) did not grow at a fast enough pace. I would not be surprised to see Hinds County lose house seats. If I recall correctly, I noticed that in the 2007 election not many people voted in the Adrienne Wooten-John Reeves contest for District 71 representative in comparison to other districts. If (Big IF since I don't know and am just speculating) voter turnout is an indication of how many people actually live in District 71 (and assuming my three-year-old recollections are close to being right), then it may have to be expanded or merged into another district depending on how reapportionment happens.

Ex

Sep 8 2010

Now I'm REALLY confused. Am I to understand that unlike the U.S. House, more populous areas are not represented at a higher rate than a less populated area? And odd that you should cite that Reeves / Wooten race back in 07. For such a low turnout, that one dragged on.

bill_jackson

Sep 8 2010

I think the confusion comes with the definition of district. When I think of district, I think of a distinct electoral area that is represented by an elected official such as a senator, representative, alderman, supervisor, judge, or constable. Of course, each office (and the official) represents a separate and distinct electoral area. More populous areas (whether that area is a city, county, or multicounty metropolitan area) are indeed represented at a higher rate-- or at least the areas have more districts that tend to be more compact. Less populated areas have districts that are larger in geographic size but have close to the same population as a compact district located in a more populous area (compare for example Senate District 38 which is made up of portions of five counties with District 28 which is only in the city of Jackson and both have a similar population according to the 2000 Census).

Ex

Sep 9 2010

Adam asked that we add this clarification about the following statement in the story above: The issue is likely to become a battle this year as Republicans and Democrats fight for influence and to avoid losing a district. Legislative redistricting in 2002 cost the state one Senate district and three House districts. It also forced two incumbent Republicans to vie for influence over a single new district created from two districts in the northeastern part of the state. The above statement demands a clarification. Legislative redistricting in 2002 cost FOUR STATE POLITICIANS THEIR DISTRICTS: one Senate district and three House districts. The state does not lose districts. The state will always have 122 House districts and 52 Senate districts—but districts can get shuffled off into new territory and remove a standing politician from his voting public. We are also adding words in all caps nto the story above.

DonnaLadd

Sep 9 2010