Friday, January 13, 2012
Politics Steamrolling Democrats, Republicans Adopt Senate Redistricting Map
Posted by Jeff Woods on Fri, Jan 13, 2012 at 2:19 PM
In their first plan, the Republican majority dumped Kyle into right-winger Brian Kelsey’s district. Since Kelsey’s term isn’t finished until 2014 and Kyle’s is up this year, that meant Kyle went bye-bye at the end of this session. But after apparently tiring of hearing Kyle whine (his voice is particularly grating), Republicans shut him up by shoving him into Democrat Beverly Marrero’s district instead.
The two Memphis liberals will have to run against each other this year unless one of them quits. Let the voters decide which one returns. It’s all the same for Republicans because Kyle and Marrero are pretty much equally annoying to them.
Today’s debate was almost exclusively about whether the plan is unfair to various incumbent Democrats. Complaining that her district was “chopped up,” Marrero said, “I just want to say with great sadness I think it’s a very sad day that the people of my district who I’ve always represented no longer have me as a representative.”
Sen. Joe Haynes, D-Goodlettsville, talked for 10 minutes about how much he suffered from gerrymandering of decades past. He said the new lines in Davidson County “do some mischief,” and insisted he should have been allowed to draw his own district as if it belongs to him, and he probably thinks it does. We bet he’s upset because many more Republicans live in his new district.
Democrats offered an alternative plan, plus various other amendments, but it was all for show. Everyone knew Republicans would ram through their own map.
"There's something about this plan that everyone can dislike a little bit, and some people can dislike a lot," Senate GOP leader Mark Norris said.
Comments (4)
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Some day, some way, we've got to set things up so NO incumbents define districts. There must be a better way.
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If it weren't for Kyle and The Tennessean propping him up, some of the public would have realized how senile former Lt. Gov. and Senate Speaker Wilder was before some light dawned.
With Ramsey, it's kind of the same as if he were senile, but he doesn't talk about the cosmos, or himself in the third person, that we know of.
Right on, Donna.
Kyle, rather than take his own lumps, decides to try and screw Sen. Marrero. I hope she thumps him in the primary. And I will contribute to her, evemn though I live in Nashville. Kyle has been a net negative to the Democrats, and we would be well rid of him in favor of some other, any other, Democrat.
Yeah, better Marrero than Kyle. But it's pretty sickening that these legislators, state and congressional, regard the districts as their personal property and profit-making enterprises.
This system doesn't work for Americans anymore. It has destroyed our country.
