Redistricting: Blumenauer not thrilled by either proposed map
Kari Chisholm
The competing congressional district maps proposed by the Democrats and the Republicans in the legislature aren't making Congressman Earl Blumenauer happy.
The Republicans would remake OR-3 into the exclusive Multnomah County district (along with part of Milwaukie). The Democrats would stretch OR-3 all the way from Columbia County to Hood River County.
Blumenauer's reaction, according to the O's Jeff Mapes:
However, when I asked Pomeroy whether Blumenauer thought this was the best approach to redrawing his district lines, she replied:
"At this point, it's probably fair to say, 'No, he doesn't think it's the best way to draw the map.'"
Pomeroy also said that she didn't expect either this "river district" proposal from the Democrats or the Republican plan - which basically squeezes almost all of Blumenauer's district into Multnomah County - to become law.
"It's hard to see how either of them are going to hold up either in the Legislature or the courts," she said.
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7:08 a.m.
May 13, '11
Earl is right. The R plan would concentrate all of Multnomah county into the 1 district for the purposes of eliminating the impact of Multco on the other congressional districts. The D plan extends the district in a way that is not well supported by any of the criteria -- geographic location, political division, communities of interest -- for the purposes of padding D numbers in some of the other congressional districts.
Neither plan would appear to meet the criteria: "In addition, no district shall be drawn for the purpose of favoring any political party, incumbent legislator or other person..."
My preliminary review of the state legislative districts suggests that they are even worse.
This is a starting point, not an end-point. Hopefully both sides will come up with a plan that increases the number of competitive districts, and does not go out of its way to put the screws to the other side.
8:15 a.m.
May 13, '11
Full disclosure: My firm built Earl Blumenauer's campaign website. I speak only for myself.