Today the House and Senate passed new district lines based on the 2010 Census Data.
Those bills now head to the Governor’s desk but will ultimately need clearance from the Justice Department and, most likely, need to be upheld in the courts (should a lawsuit be filed; which I’ve been told is pretty much the norm every time lines are redrawn)
As expected, there are members in the House who end up being placed in the same district lines. This is inevitable and happened 10 years ago as well. In the Upstate, 2 Republicans who now serve will be in the same district. Another Republican will be in a district with the person who wins a special election in a few months. There are also two districts in the PeeDee which will have 2 Democrats who now serve in the same district. As you can see, the unfortunate situation is shared evenly among 4 Rs and 4Ds in the House.
What’s still left to determine are the SC Congressional Districts. It’s unclear whether the Senate will have their plan finalized later this week or next, but the House has already approved our version. Much debate centers on the lines of the new 7th Congressional District that we picked up because of the growth in our state.
While our community may not have a preference over how the 7th district is drawn, we could have a preference whether we stay in the 2nd (Joe Wilson) or move to the 6th (Jim Clyburn) or the 4th (Mick Mulvaney). The Senate plan passed by the Judiciary Committee (and will be starting point for their floor debate) is this one (7MB download). This plan keeps us in the 2nd (Joe Wilson). An earlier plan had us in the 4th (7MB download). It’s my opinion we’re best served by staying in the 2nd with our current congressman in the county adjacent to us; instead of being represented by a congressman further away from our community. If you have an opinion, please let me know.
Back to House District 71, Nathan’s News readers recall last month when I shared numbers and information about the process; particularly relating to our community .
Since that time there have been few changes (you can imagine how difficult it is moving one piece of the puzzle that can ultimately impact several adjacent districts), but one change adopted (at my request) is that my church be kept in the area. I’m thankful my colleagues allowed us to tweak the lines so that this could be possible. Doing so, simply has the “right leg” that appears from last month’s post, now moved to the left side. This move was agreed to by Representative Chris Hart who would become a House Member that will also represent Lexington Richland School District Five by virue of his district gaining the Harbison/Riverwalk portion of District 71 that I had to give up in order to stay within the target numbers.
In 2000, House District 71 had a population of 32,842.
By 2010, that number had grown to 45,921.
New district lines put our population in compliance at 36,485.
Below are how the new lines will appear on the books (doesn’t translate into much but I did want to share). Basically, the area looks very similar to last month but just moving the “leg” from the right to the left side.
*Please note, while I mention my name and Chris Hart’s above, it’s simply used for reference. Every two years, the SC House has elections. Whomever is elected in 2012 will serve in these new district areas. Presently, I can share that both Chris and I plan to file for re-election next March.
DISTRICT 71
Area Population
Lexington County
VTD 059
Tract 211.14
Blocks: 1000, 1001, 1030, 1031, 1032 128
VTD 059 Subtotal 128
VTD 063
Tract 212.03
Blocks: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2029, 2031, 2032, 2033, 2034, 2035, 2051, 2052, 2053, 2055 1,054
Tract 212.04
Blocks: 2092, 2093, 2094, 2095, 2096, 2097, 2098, 2099, 2100, 2104 640
VTD 063 Subtotal 1,694
Richland County
Ballentine 3,554
Dutch Fork #1 3,071
Dutch Fork #2 4,249
Friarsgate #1 2,959
Friarsgate #2 2,393
Oak Point 4,427
Old Friarsgate 1,652
Parkridge 1,352
River Springs 5,019
Spring Hill 1,618
Springville 4,369
DISTRICT TOTAL 36,485
PERCENT VARIATION -2.188