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Gerrymandering Wars Continue

12/31/2016

Comments

 
  When Democrats regained Oklahoma's 1st district congressional seat, in 1972; they took steps to solidify their hold on the office. Page Belcher has served the Tulsa metro area for 20 years, but Jim Jones wrestled control and had sights on even higher office.

  When the Oklahoma legislature of 1981 began their business, drawing up new district maps was in order. The 10 year district lines would greatly help Democrats retain 5 of the 6 seats in the state's delegation to the US House of Representatives.

  To the east, Democrats held a strangle-hold of District 2. Jones and others liked the idea of carving south Tulsa out of District 1 and putting the ultra-Republican area of Tulsa County, and into the same district as Muskogee & Tahlequah. 

  Some say it's rather suspicious that Democrat-appointed judges would step in coincidentally when Republicans finally get in position to draw district maps.  In all the years that Democrats abused gerrymandering powers, very little was printed in state newspapers about the bizarre district lines.
Picture
The 1982 Congressional Districts Map

  Just as Oklahoma's 5th District is distinctly the OKC metro district (and always should be), Tulsa is the home of District 1.  But the rest of the state is divided in to whatever remaining seats that congress officially apportions to the state. there were a total of 6 for several decades; but for this decade we have 5.
  It was the Democrat legislatures of '81 & '91 who most aggregiously tunneled into Republican territories in a strategic manner, so as to keep a majority of seats in their party's control. Only the political tidal wave of '94 was able to finally flip the delegation. Republicans ended up with 5 of the 6 seats. Two years later, Gov. Keating convinced long-time Democrat congressman, Wes Watkins, to join the Republican party and run again for the District 3 seat (back then, District 3 was southeast Oklahoma). Republicans have dominated ever since.
  OklahomaWatch reports that a federal court ruling in Wisconsin could now put severe judicial oversight in place, when state legislatures draw district maps, each new decade. The 3-judge panel struck down Wisconsin's latest maps. that case is destined for the US Supreme Court. 
  It seems an academic scholar has a formula called an "Efficiency Gap", by Eric McGhee, of california. The tactics being criticized in the gerrymander process are called:
  • Cracking, which is spreading ideologically like-minded voters across multiple districts so they can’t achieve a majority in any one.
  • Packing, which is concentrating many ideologically like-minded voters in a single district in order to concede that district and win surrounding ones.
​
Picture
The 1972 Congressional Districts Map

Picture
The Current (2012) Congressional Districts Map

  Let's look at what the controversial process of gerrymandering entails. In the chart to the right, you see that 50 people might be organized in a tidy and clearly divided manner.
​ Government can either acknowledge the divide, or create another division which favors their outcomes by creating lines where no one would expect them. 
ger·ry·man·der
ˈjerēˌmandər/
verb
1. manipulate the boundaries of (an electoral constituency) so as to favor one party or class.
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    David Van Risseghem reports the events and adds some perspective. 


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    David Van Risseghem  is the Publisher of SoonerPolitics.org. The resource is committed to informing & mobilizing conservative Oklahomans for civic reform.  This endeavor seeks to utilize the efforts of all cooperative facets of the Conservative movement...

    ​"No politician 'checks off every box" in your list of issues. You have to prioritize and use personal discretion regarding every current and future issue that you can imagine. Then you have to also judge integrity & consistency. A candidate's openness to study the issues & courage to think for themselves. Then you need to review their honesty & work ethic.  I respect any voter's decision, when they've informed themselves and took voting seriously." - David Van Risseghem
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 SoonerPolitics.org is committed to informing & mobilizing conservative Oklahomans for civic reform & restored liberty. We seeks to utilize the efforts of all cooperative facets of the Conservative movement... Content of the diverse columns are solely at the discretion of the dozens of websites who create the content.   David Van Risseghem  is the founder of this platform.
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