CHARLESTON – The House Redistricting Committee on Monday approved a bill with the proposed new 100 single-member-district map and sent it to the full House for consideration.
The full House received the bill – HB 301 – during its 6 p.m floor session and read it a first time. It will be on second reading, subject to amendment, when the House reconvenes at noon Tuesday.
The Redistricting Committee will hold a public hearing on the proposed map at 8 a.m. Wednesday. Those who wish to speak must sign up an hour before the hearing starts.
Locally, Monongalia County is split among six districts, 77 through 82.
Delegate John Williams, D-Monongalia, is on the committee. He said after Monday’s meeting, “I’m pleased with what’s happening with the lines in Mon County – certainly that we’re going to have ix delegates.”
Morgantown itself, with its meandering boundaries, is split among five of those six districts – all but 77, which covers western Mon, Westover and Star City are together with Granville and Suncrest in District 80.
The ideal district size, it was said during the meeting, is 17,937 people. Morgantown could be split into two districts but its meandering boundaries don’t allow that.
And while some incumbents have complained that the proposed map pits a number of incumbents against each other, Williams said no Mon County incumbents would face that based on the proposed map. “We are certainly glad to see that.”
The meeting wasn’t without contentious moments. Delegate Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, pressed committee attorney Jeff Billings at length to explain why District 48 – covering portions of Webster, Nicholas and Greenbrier – was redrawn from the original proposal to remove a portion of Pocahontas.
After repeated questions, Billings said it was done at the request of Delegate Brandon Steele, R-Raleigh, because the Aryan Nation is headquartered in Pocahontas and the incumbent for that District would be Delegate Caleb Hanna, R-Nicholas.
The change spares Hanna from having to represent them, it was said after the floor meeting.
Delegate Danielle Walker, D-Monongalia, commented on the change after the meeting.
“I’m very concerned,” she said. “I would like to see a map of other organizations that are going to affect classes of minorities, not just incumbents. This redistricting process is not about incumbents. It it about every West Virginian who has an ability to put their name on the ballot – should not be faced with any type of racism or prejudice.”
This approach is not fair to anyone in West Virginia, she said
Fluharty also pointed out that while districts are expected to respect county lines – one of several criteria – 42 of 55 counties are split. And 36% of Democrat incumbents will be pitted against each other in 2022, compared to just 5% of Republican incumbents.
Billings said there was no political motivation regarding incumbents facing each other. Addresses of current members or prior candidates were not entered into the mapping software.
Also in response to Fluharty, it was noted that 33 districts are multi-member and breaking them into single-member districts poses challenges for preserving county lines.
Minority Leader Doug Skaff, D-Kanawha, used the example of Wetzel County as an argument for keeping counties whole. Wetzel has a population of about 14,000, he said, so the simplest thing to do would have been to pull 3,000 more from a neighboring county.
Instead, Wetzel is divided among four districts.
Respecting the idea of keeping communities of interest together, Skaff and Fluharty proposed an amendment to keep New Martinsville in Wetzel and Moundsville in Marshall together in one district and Glen Dale, McMechen and Benwood – all in Marshall – together in another. That was rejected by the GOP majority in a roll call vote.
On the map the committee approved, New Martsinsville is in one district; Moundsville, Glen Dale and McMechen in another; and Benwood in a third.
The committee passed the bill – it originated in committee, hadn’t been introduced yet and had no number – in a voice vote. No one voted no, but the Democrats didn’t vote yes, they kept silent.
TWEET David Beard @dbeardtdp EMAIL dbeard@dominionpost.com
