The Republican chairmen of the state’s Joint House and Senate Redistricting Committee have proposed a new 32nd Senate District that would exclude the address of current Democratic Sen. Linda Garrou.
In a statement issued today, Sen. Bob Rucho and Rep. David Lewis, the GOP chairs of the joint committee, said that Garrou should be drawn out of the new 32nd District in order to increase the chance that a black can be elected to represent it.
“The white incumbent has defeated African American candidates in Democratic primaries in 2004 and 2010,” the statement read. It went on to say that the new 32nd District that Rucho is proposing would “provide African American citizens with a more equal … opportunity to elect a candidate of choice.”
The statement was released along with proposed plans for districts in which minorities would constitute a majority, and other districts – including the 32nd – in which minorities make up a large percentage of the population.
Under the Voting Rights Act and other regulations that lawmakers must follow, the state Senate and House are putting together districts that improve the chances of minority representation before moving on to the redistricting of the remaining districts in the state.
Garrou said the GOP effort could be a case of “political revenge.”
“I have been an effective voice,” she said. “I have spoken about the budget and issues of importance. And it sounds like they want to get rid of me.”
Redistricting is required ever 10 years because of population changes – reflected most recently in the results of the 2010 Census.
Garrou is in her seventh term, having been elected in 1998. Before the GOP took control last November, Garrou co-chaired the Senate’s powerful appropriations committee.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement