Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Public Affairs Specialist and all-star panelist Clint Brewer in studio to weigh in on recent Democratic lawsuit filed in response to Middle Tennessee’s redistricting.
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One day after Wednesday’s Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision imposing a Democrat-favored congressional map, state Senator David Argall (R-Mahanoy City) is legislating to limit similar future rulings.
Argall, who chairs the Senate State Government Committee, has asked colleagues to cosponsor a measure disallowing any congressional-district plan ordered by a court to remain in effect after the election cycle for which it was enacted.
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Redistricting has been finalized in Pennsylvania and the partisan makeup for the 8th Congressional District has barely changed.
Nate Silver’s fivethirtyeight gave PA-8 a partisan rating of R+9 prior to redistricting and currently gives it a R+8 rating. The Cook Political Report says that the race is a Toss Up. President Trump beat Biden under the old 8th District map by 4.4% in 2020.
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Democrats celebrated and Republicans demurred Wednesday after the Democrat-controlled Pennsylvania Supreme Court selected the state’s new congressional map.
In so doing, the court overturned a decision earlier this month by Commonwealth Court Judge Patricia A. McCullough (R) to allow implementation of a redistricting plan passed by the GOP-led General Assembly but vetoed by Governor Tom Wolf (D). The initial version of the legislature-approved map was drawn by a private citizen, Amanda Holt of Lehigh County, though legislators modified her plan somewhat.
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NRCC targeted Democrat incumbent U.S. Representative Elissa Slotkin has a towering financial advantage in the race for Michigan’s 7th Congressional District seat.
Slotkin has raised $3,476,331.42 for the 2022 election cycle and is currently sitting on $4,508,719.04 cash on hand. Republican state Senator and U.S. Army veteran Tom Barrett has raised $311,971.14 with $254,171.87 cash on hand. Barrett declared for the race in November of 2021.
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Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court, deliberating over oral arguments made last Friday, will soon decide the congressional-district boundaries that apply in next year’s elections.
State House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff (R-Bellefonte) has meanwhile asked the court to strike down a newly enacted map containing districts for his own legislative chamber.
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Tennessee residents can now go online to see how the 2021-2022 redistricting process impacts them.
Members of the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office have created a new online dashboard called Tennessee District Lookup that shows which addresses in the state are now assigned to which legislative district.
The new dashboard updates the public on legislative district information for county commissions, the U.S. Congress, and both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly.
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The Ohio Supreme Court agreed with two Democrats on the Ohio Redistricting Commission and denied a motion from Attorney General Dave Yost to relegate the two to “friend of the court” status in ongoing legal challenges to new state legislative districts.
Commission co-chair Sen. Vernon Sykes, D-Akron, and House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, called Yost’s motion an attempt to silence the two, who had voted against the original maps and ones reconfigured by order of the court.
“I am relieved to see that a fair process is continuing in the courts,” Russo said. “We spoke up for the people against unconstitutional maps, while the Attorney General tried to silence us. AG Yost should not have tried to put his thumb on the scale in this process. Now, we wait the court’s decision on the submitted maps and let the process play out with greater transparency.”
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Congressman Mark Green (R-TN-07) on Tuesday formally launched his campaign for a third term in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The lawmaker will run in the 7th Congressional District, which will hold a slightly different constituency than previous years due to the state’s redistricting plan.
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Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul late Thursday signed a new congressional map into law that could eliminate half of the state’s Republicans in the House.
The signing, reported by the Associated Press, comes just days after the state legislature advanced the map on near party lines. The map gives Democrats an advantage in 22 of the state’s 26 seats.
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Because Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor and GOP-controlled legislature couldn’t agree on a congressional redistricting plan, a Commonwealth Court judge has stepped in and chosen one favored by the latter.
Judge Patricia A. McCullough (R), who was charged individually with selecting a new congressional map from among several proposed by state officials and nongovernmental actors, issued a 228-page report explaining her decision.
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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on Monday signed redistricting maps that will change the boundaries for the state’s House and Senate seats, in addition to the lines of the districts for the U.S. House of Representatives.
The congressional map, approved by the Tennessee General Assembly earlier this month, will divide Davidson County into three separate districts, potentially allowing Republicans to flip the seat from Democratic control.
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Pennsylvania’s Legislative Redistricting Commission (LRC) on Friday finalized a new district map for state representatives that aids Democrats’ electability.
All three Democrats on the five-member LRC voted for the map, which is a modified version of a preliminary plan the same Democrats approved last month. Both Republicans voted against the plan.
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Multiple Democratic lawmakers in the Tennessee Legislature sent a letter on Friday to Governor Bill Lee, asking him to veto proposed changes to state and federal district lines.
The General Assembly has approved three maps that will alter the representation carried out by state senators, state representatives, and U.S. Representatives.
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The General Assembly has officially transmitted the passed redistricting plans to Governor Lee for his signature.
Lt. Governor and the Speaker of the Senate Randy McNally signed the new Senate legislative district and congressional district bills on Wednesday, January 26. He signed the state house district bill on Thursday, January 27. State House Speaker Cameron Sexton signed all three bills on January 27. They were then transmitted to Governor Lee for action on the same day.
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On Thursday, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) vetoed a proposed new congressional-district map passed by the Republican-run state legislature.
The governor’s decision effectively turns over the selection of a new map to the state judiciary. The Republican-run Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court has indicated it would intervene if Wolf and lawmakers failed to agree on how the new districts will be reshaped. But even if that court chooses the reapportionment plan passed by the General Assembly, Wolf’s party may ultimately get its way by appealing to the Democrat-controlled state Supreme Court.
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In their final vote on redistricting, the Tennessee State Senate has approved the state house legislative district maps by a vote of 23-6.
The new district map proposal for the State House was the remaining item on the Senate’s redistricting agenda. The new maps now head to Governor Lee’s desk for his signature.
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The Tennessee State House approved their congressional and legislative redistricting proposals on Monday evening. The vote was 70-27, 70-26, and 70-26 on the house legislative district, senate legislative district, and congressional redistricting plans, respectively.
As has been a longstanding tradition in the Tennessee General Assembly, the House deferred to the the Senate’s plan on the new senate legislative district boundaries and the Senate is doing the same on the state house legislative district boundaries. The Senate approved the congressional and house legislative district proposals on January 20 and will vote on the house district boundaries on Wednesday, January 26, 2022.
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A proposed congressional map passed by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives earlier this month passed the state Senate unchanged on Monday, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed.
In urging colleagues to approve the redistricting plan, Senate State Government Committee Majority Chairman David Argall (R-Mahanoy City) emphasized that the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court has insisted on enactment of a new map by January 30. The court has indicated it will select a map if Gov. Tom Wolf (D) does not sign one by that date.
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Pennsylvania’s Republican-led state Senate and Gov. Tom Wolf (D) must approve a congressional map Monday in order to meet a deadline set by the Pennsylvania Department of State.
Last summer, then-Secretary of the Commonwealth Veronica Degraffenried (D) announced that her department wanted new congressional districts enacted before January 24 so election officials and candidates may adequately prepare for the May 17, 2022 primaries. Lawmakers redesign districts every decade according to population changes reflected in U.S. Census data, whose release last year stalled several months owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Population trends dictate that the Keystone State will lose one congressional district out of its present eighteen.
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The Tennessee Senate passed their congressional redistricting plan, which splits up Nashville amongst three congressional districts as well as the senate legislative redistricting plan. Both plans passed the Tennessee Senate by a vote of 26-5.
Amendments were added to both plans, SB0781 and SB0780, providing more detail on the district lines.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Sunday submitted his own proposals for Florida’s congressional redistricting maps to Florida lawmakers. The Florida legislature is tasked with approving the congressional maps before this legislative session ends in March.
The proposed maps that DeSantis submitted includes 18 seats that Donald Trump would have won in 2020. The existing Florida Senate maps only have 16 Trump-leaning seats.
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The proposed new congressional redistricting plans have been voted out of their respective committees and are heading to the Senate and House floors.
Ultimate passage is considered likely.
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Tennessee voters spoke loud and clear last November when they overwhelmingly elected Republicans to represent them at every level. I’m extremely proud that Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly have delivered on the promise to uphold conservative values, increase economic opportunities, improve public safety and strengthen education. We still have much work to do and we will continue to work to address these priorities during this upcoming legislative session.
Our state budget is probably the most significant component of public policy our governor and General Assembly tackle each year. Unlike the federal government, Tennessee’s constitution requires us to balance our budget. The federal government’s debt has amassed to almost $30 trillion, something we should all be concerned about for future generations to come.
Our primary goal each year is always the same: to pass a balanced budget. From top to bottom, Tennessee’s $42.6 billion zero-debt budget is a spending plan that addresses the priorities and needs of all Tennesseans.
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The Tennessee Senate Ad-Hoc Committee on Redistricting released their plans and maps for congressional and state senate redistricting.
The Senate version of congressional redistricting is substantially similar to the House plan, which was released on Wednesday. These plans split Nashville amongst three congressional districts. Under the current district lines, Nashville is in the 5th Congressional District and is represented by Congressman Jim Cooper. The current 5th District consists of all of Davidson and Dickson counties, and part of Cheatham County.
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Candidates running for office in Arizona are reporting difficulty collecting signatures online due to a “total breakdown” of Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs’ website, as Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Gaynor described it. Hobbs, a Democrat, is also running for governor. New redistricting maps have been established, and although candidates are allowed to collect signatures from either their old district or their new district, if they’ve filed to run in the new district, the E-Qual system will only accept signatures from the old district with that number — which might be a completely different area.
Labeling the technical difficulties a “total breakdown,” Gaynor said in a statement, “The breakdown of the E-QUAL system is a slap in the face to Arizona candidates and voters, and all the hard work that has been done during the AIRC process. Secretary Hobbs has utterly failed to protect our election process, and her mismanagement of the E-QUAL system is the latest indication that Arizona’s elections are not in safe hands.”
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The Tennessee Democratic Party (TNDP) on Wednesday threatened a lawsuit against proposed congressional maps, if they are fully enacted.
The maps, unveiled by the the House Redistricting Committee, would split Davidson County into three different districts, likely eliminating Representative Jim Cooper (D-TN-05).
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The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Committee late Tuesday approved new congressional and legislative maps the state will follow for the next 10 years.
The 13-member panel, established by state voters, was formed to curtail gerrymandered districts in the state. The MICRC is made-up of four Republicans, four Democrats and five independents. The committee voted to approve what’s been dubbed the “Chestnut Congressional” map, the “Hickory House” map, and the “Linden Senate” map.”
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In Michigan, the state’s civil rights agency said proposed maps of legislative districts “do not measure up to the requirements of the law.” In Pennsylvania, Republican lawmakers complained about an “extreme partisan gerrymander.” And in Virginia, incumbents and potential challengers scrambled to work with proposed district maps.
In theory, new bureaucracies to draw up maps for congressional and legislative districts were supposed to save democracy from politics and block the practice of gerrymandering.
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The Ohio Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on Tuesday, relating to the constitutionality of new congressional maps that were recently signed into law by Governor Mike DeWine.
The new map, passed earlier this year by the state legislature, established new boundaries for federal and state representation following new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
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The Michigan Supreme Court on Monday ruled that the state’s Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission must release documents and recordings related to a closed-door meeting the group conducted earlier this year.
According to the 4-3 ruling written by Justice David Viviano, the commission’s decision to hold a secret meeting violated the state Constitution. The Michigan Constitution states the “commission shall conduct all of its business at open meetings.”
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After years of Pennsylvania Democrats excoriating Republicans for gerrymandering, the 2021 Legislative Reapportionment Commission’s state-level redistricting proposals are drawing ire from members of both parties.
Republicans have broadly opposed the preliminary redistricting plan for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and at least one Senate Democrat, Lisa Boscola (Bethlehem), is incensed about changes to her chamber’s map.
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The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) elected to begin final debate on a set of congressional maps that are favored by Democrats.
The decision was made when independent Commission Chair Erika Schupak Neuberg sided with two Democrats to override the two-vote GOP minority.
The commission was established in November 2000, when voters in the state passed Proposition 106, a citizen initiative that amended the Arizona Constitution by removing the power to draw congressional and state legislative districts from the state legislature and reassigning this task to the IRC.
The vote that Neuberg decided created a starting point for the discussion of the final boundaries. The committee will continue to debate through multiple meetings on December 21 and 22nd.
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By a nearly party-line vote of 14 to 11, the Pennsylvania House State Government Committee voted Wednesday to advance a largely citizen-created map for congressional redistricting.
Lehigh County resident Amanda Holt submitted the map in its original form. The slightly modified version of the plan received the support of all committee Republicans except Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-Macungie) and no Democrats.
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The Michigan Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments in a lawsuit between three news agencies and the Michigan Independent Citizen’s Redistricting Commission (MICRC). Arguments will be held Dec. 15 at 9:30 a.m.
The lawsuit follows an Oct. 27 MICRC closed-door meeting to discuss two legal memos despite a Constitutional mandate the committee “shall conduct all of its business at open meetings.”
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The Pennsylvania House State Government Committee has unveiled a preliminary map for new congressional districts, selected from one of 19 submitted by the public.
Rep. Seth Grove, R-York, chair of the State Government Committee, said a map submitted by Lehigh County resident Amanda Holt was selected because it was crafted without political influence, met constitutional standards and limited splits of townships and municipalities, among other factors.
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U.S. Representative Lucy McBath (D-GA-06) on Monday announced that she will run in a different district established by Georgia’s redistricting process, abandoning her current district.
Republican Jake Evans, a candidate for Congress in the Sixth Congressional District, argued the move by McBath highlights growing support for the GOP as the 2022 elections approach.
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Metropolitan Nashville’s (MetroNashville) Council, the legislature for the city of Nashville and Davidson County, is currently preparing to consider a second draft of the its newly revised Council-district map.
A number of Nashville Council’s 35 districts stand to change dramatically, particularly with districts losing land mass in the city’s northeast, as population growth there has not kept pace with the city’s southern area.
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The next step for Wisconsin’s new political map is a veto from Gov. Tony Evers.
The State Assembly, as expected, on Thursday approved the Republican-drawn maps on two party line votes.
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The North Carolina General Assembly on Thursday finalized the state’s new U.S. House map that gives Republicans a distinct advantage over Democrats.
The map creates 10 safe Republican seats, three safe Democratic seats and one competitive seat, up from the current 8-5 map now. North Carolina is the only state where the legislature has full control over the redistricting process, meaning that the new lines can skirt what would be an all but certain veto from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and go into effect.
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The Sumner County Board of Commissioners is using redistricting required every 10 years following completion of the U.S. census in 2020 to potentially make significant and unprecedented changes to the county commission districts.
Sumner County currently has 12 county commission districts with two commissioners per district, but redistricting has opened the door to making 24 districts with one commissioner per district.
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Arizona State Senate President Karen Fann (R-Prescott) on Monday announced that she will retire when her current term ends and will not seek reelection in 2022.
Fann, who was a key supporter of the audit of ballots in Maricopa County, has served 28 years in state and local government positions.
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Legislation currently in the works in the Pennsylvania General Assembly would spell out two rules for redistricting in the Keystone State: Elections cannot legally take place in outdated districts and courts can’t create new districts themselves.
In Feb. 2018, the Democrat-controlled Pennsylvania Supreme Court not only struck down Pennsylvania’s congressional maps as unconstitutionally gerrymandered, it reimposed new maps created with no input from the legislature, something state law does not grant the court the right to do. The new maps strongly favored the Democrats’ electoral prospects.
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Minnesota State Representative Jeremy Munson (R-Lake Crystal) questioned a Democrat redistricting bill in a Facebook video. Munson said that aspects of the bill are “at odds with election integrity.”
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Republican members of Ohio’s redistricting commission will have to answer questions as part of three lawsuits challenging new state legislative district maps, the Ohio Supreme Court said.
Groups such as the League of Women Voters of Ohio, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Council on American-Islamic Relations filed lawsuits, claiming the legislative maps are unconstitutional and gerrymandered. The Ohio Supreme Court has jurisdiction over lawsuits that challenge redistricting.
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After the finalization of the U.S. Census every ten years, state and local governments set about redrawing their lawmakers’ and school directors’ district lines.
Throughout this fall and winter, legislators across the state will toil over this process sure to directly impact many of their futures. Although political considerations inevitably loom large in redistricting, the proceedings are theoretically intended to make districts as compact and contiguous as possible—i.e. to ensure that they don’t look like irregular puzzle pieces.
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Republican candidate for Tennessee’s Fifth Congressional District, Robby Starbuck to the newsmakers line to announce his endorsement from former DNI Ric Grenell.
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The Tennessee House Select Committee on Redistricting held its first of many meetings on Wednesday, starting the process of refitting the Volunteer State’s legislative districts to correspond to population changes.
“Over the course of the next several months, this committee will work together to develop a fair and constitutional redistricting plan for the state House, Senate and Congress,” committee Chair Curtis Johnson (R-TN-Clarksville) said.
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Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) on Thursday announced that he will create the first-ever bipartisan House Select Committee on Redistricting, as state legislators prepare to draw new legislative districts.
The committee, which will be tasked with navigating the process of analyzing state data to help draw new maps, will feature a total of 16 House members: 12 Republican and 4 Democratic members.
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The nonprofit Voters Not Politicians (VNP) has stridently criticized the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) for hiring a GOP-aligned law firm, but VNP’s own leftist agenda and political ties are getting little media attention.
The Lansing-based “nonpartisan” organization spearheaded the Proposal 2 referendum which created the MICRC to oversee legislative and congressional redistricting free of gerrymandering.
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