Re-redistricting heats up in Georgia … and a few Blue states

Last week, Georgia Republicans had to hit the breaks on its re-redistricting scheme when they realized different factions within the party had significantly different ideas about how the new map’s lines would be drawn. This week, those differences have been smoothed over and they’re moving full steam ahead.

The long and the short of it is the new Georgia map makes every House Republican district far more secure — more GOP voters and fewer African Americans — and targets two House Dems for tougher re-election fights.

Republicans in the Georgia Legislature have reached consensus on new Congressional boundaries, moving a proposed map forward that would shore up Rep. Phil Gingrey’s (R) swing district and potentially complicate the re-election efforts of Democratic Reps. John Barrow and Jim Marshall.

The state House and Senate redistricting committees passed the same version of a new Congressional map Friday, bringing an end to a week of behind-the-scenes wrangling over how to reconcile the chambers’ two competing plans.

Georgia’s four African-American House members, all of whom are Dems, have been left unscathed. It’s not because Georgia Republicans have a soft spot for them; it’s to ensure that the Justice Department doesn’t reject the new map on Voting Rights Act grounds.

The on-the-record line from the Dems the past few weeks has been to oppose Georgia’s re-redistricting effort, and to stifle all talk about retaliation in Dem-controlled states. That’s fine, as far as it goes, but it now appears that Dem opposition will not be enough to stop Georgia’s Republicans from redrawing the lines this year.

Which segues nicely into increasingly serious talk among Dems about redrawing a few maps of our own.

Right now, Illinois is at the top of a list that also includes New Mexico and Louisiana.

House Democratic leaders, led by Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (Md.), have reached out to party officials in the three states about redrawing the Congressional lines, and in Illinois at least, the governor and legislative leaders discussed the possibility last week. Governors in two of the three states — Rod Blagojevich in Illinois and Bill Richardson in New Mexico — are former Democratic House Members.

In Illinois, state Democrats have had recent discussions about revisiting the map before the legislative session ends on May 27.

When Illinois did its post-census map in 2001, the state government was divided and a bi-partisan compromise was reached. In subsequent elections, Dems have dominated and now enjoy large majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. By the reasoning laid out by Tom DeLay, that means it’s incumbent on Dems to redraw the state’s district lines to better reflect partisan attitudes in the state.

State Senate Judiciary Chairman John Cullerton (D), whose committee has jurisdiction over redistricting, said Monday that there has been recent discussion of redrawing lines in light of the developments in other states.

“We didn’t start this,” he said. “In the file I have are all quotes from [House Majority Leader] Tom DeLay [R-Texas] and they all say how the maps should reflect the political makeup of the state. Pennsylvania sure doesn’t reflect that makeup, and neither does Illinois.”

Also interesting, there’s a new contestant in the re-redistricting mix: New York.

At first blush, it hardly seems New York would consider re-redistricting to help the Dems — the state has a Republican governor and a narrow GOP majority in its state Senate. New York Dems, however, believe they’re poised for statewide success in 2006, and may be willing to add a few more seats to the House Dem caucus.

Some New York Democrats, increasingly confident that they can take over both the governorship and the state Senate next year, are talking openly of redrawing the Empire State’s Congressional lines before the next census — perhaps as early as in 2007.

[…]

While Democratic leaders have pointed to Illinois, Louisiana and New Mexico, where the party currently controls both the governorship and the legislature, as options for re-redistricting, none of those states offers a Texas-sized bounty of seats. Potentially, New York could come close.

“Texas needs a pushback,” said Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.). “There needs to be a pushback from our side, and New York is one place where it could happen.”

If the Dems pursue this in ’07, a few House Republicans — including Peter King, Vito Fossella, and Sue Kelly — may find themselves in the same unemployment line as Martin Frost and Chris Bell.

Remember, Republicans, you started this.