CONNECTICUT
REAPPORTIONMENT:
Review decade population changes
here.
U.S.
Senate: Map
of current and proposed 5 Districts in Connecticut,
U.S. Congress above, left.
Going to court for the final answer.
CT Legislative
districts: Agreed-upon CT
House and CT Senate districts above, right.
2012 Weston streets by name
and district plus map.
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Court
approves U.S. House map -- and map maker's fee
Mark
Pazniokas, CT MIRROR
February
10, 2012
The
Connecticut Supreme Court today adopted a congressional
redistricting plan that makes minimal changes in the state's
five U.S. House districts, and it ordered the legislature to
pay the court-appointed special master who produced it a fee
of $36,400.
The
only news was the fee charged by Nathaniel Persily, the
Columbia law professor chosen as special master in December
after legislators failed to draw new districts. He precisely
followed the court's instructions in producing the new map,
leaving no doubt as to the court's acceptance.
"The
Supreme Court's adoption of the congressional
reapportionment plan comes as no surprise, given the
previous instructions it gave to the special master to
pursue a 'minimalist' approach that comported with the
Democrats' request,'' said House Minority Leader Lawrence F.
Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk.
Democrats
on the legislature's bipartisan Reapportionment Commission
had argued that the existing five U.S. House districts were
politically fair and legally sound, requiring only slight
changes to equalize their population.
"The
current district lines have been proven fair and competitive
over time," said Senate Majority Leader Martin M. Looney,
D-New Haven.
[Please read the rest of this article at the CT MIRROR website]
Congressional
redistricting: Court-appointed special master submits revised
district map
Weston FORUM
Written by James Passeri
Thursday, 26 January 2012 00:00
A special master appointed by the state Supreme Court to
resolve Connecticut's redistricting stalemate submitted a
final proposal Jan. 19 that will keep Bridgeport in the 4th
District.
The plan also retains New Britain in the 5th and requires only
minor changes to equalize district populations, a
constitutional mandate following the 2010 federal census.
District 4, which was the most underpopulated in the existing
plan, was redrawn to move 8,079 people in Shelton from
District 3, which achieved "perfect population equality," said
Nathaniel Persily, the special master.
District 3 was then moved further into District 1's
Middletown, gaining an additional 5,369 people.
After inviting interested parties to submit reports by Jan.
18, Mr. Persily concluded that the Draft Report and Plan are
"in order" and require no revision.
The four parties who submitted comments to the Clerk's Office
on Jan. 18 included Republican members of the Reapportionment
Commission; the Reapportionment Commission Democratic members;
the Coalition for Minority Representation; and Robert S.
Poliner, town counsel to the town of Durham.
Mr. Persily's report comes after two completed plans — one
from Republican members of the Reapportionment Commission and
one from the Democratic members — were submitted before Jan.
9.
"The Republican proposal shifts more population, land, and
towns than is reasonably necessary to comply with one person,
one vote," Mr. Persily said in his report.
[Please read the rest of this article at the Weston FORUM website]
Special master hears redistricting pleas
CT POST
Ken Dixon, Staff Writer
Updated 01:00 p.m., Monday, January 9, 2012
HARTFORD -- Republicans and Democrats offered conflicting
views of the political landscape in their pitches to a
court-appointed special master who has until Jan. 27 to
approve new maps for the state's five congressional districts.
Minority Republicans said their proposal is designed to undo
the Democrats' "gerrymandering" after the 2000 U.S. Census;
Democrats, who are in a strong majority in the General
Assembly, charged the GOP plan would be convulsive to too many
voters.
At the start of an afternoon hearing on the legislative
stalemate, Columbia University political science professor and
special master Nathaniel Persily told the 17 people signed up
to speak that he was withholding judgment.
"I am here to listen," Persily said when the hearing started.
Ross Garber, an attorney for Republicans, said their proposal,
which would relocate New Britain into the 1st Congressional
District from the 5th District, makes sense by compacting the
district's footprint and putting together two nearby cities.
Garber charged that Democrats "gerrymandered for incumbency"
in keeping essentially the same map from 10 years ago, when
the state lost a congressional seat.
Rep. Arthur J. O'Neill, R-Southbury, said that losing the
congressional seat in 2001 was unprecedented and it resulted
in a combination of the former 5th and 6th districts.
[Please read the rest of this article at the CT POST website]
GOP bends, Democrats stand pat on congressional map
Mark Pazniokas, CT MIRROR
January 6, 2012
Encouraged by new guidelines from the state Supreme Court,
Democrats today proposed a congressional district map that
makes minimal changes in the five U.S. House districts
dominated by Democrats since 2008.
Republicans modified the map they last proposed, but the GOP
still is pushing for changes that would make the open 5th
Congressional District seat more competitive in 2012.
Democrats and Republicans on the bipartisan Reapportionment
Commission had until noon today to file their proposed maps
for consideration by the court's special master, Professor
Nathaniel Persily of Columbia.
Previous GOP map created a 'compact' 1st and 5th, undoing the
'claw' created in 2001.
Persily, who is barred by the court from commenting on the
plans, will conduct a public hearing on the maps Monday at
noon in the Legislative Office Building.
Earlier this week, the court issued instructions to Persily
that Democrats interpreted as siding with their long-held
contention that the map adopted in 2001 can be re-used with
minor changes to reflect slight shifts in population.
"In developing the plan," the court said in its instructions
order, "the Special Master shall modify the existing
congressional districts only to the extent reasonably required
to comply with the following applicable legal requirements..."
Those requirements are that the districts be equal in
population, consist of contiguous territory and meet "other
applicable provisions of the Voting Rights Act and federal
law."
[Please read the rest of this article at the CT MIRROR website]
Court favors Democrats in redistricting instructions
Mark Pazniokas, CT MIRROR
January 5, 2012
In a victory for Democrats, the Connecticut Supreme Court has
directed its special master on redistricting to make minimal
changes as he draws new lines for the state's five U.S. House
districts.
Democrats and Republicans on the bipartisan Reapportionment
Commission declined to comment Thursday, but the court's
directions to Professor Nathaniel Persily of Columbia, the
special master appointed last week, echo arguments made by the
Democrats.
"In developing the plan," the court said in its new order,
"the Special Master shall modify the existing congressional
districts only to the extent reasonably required to comply
with the following applicable legal requirements..."
Those requirements are that the districts be equal in
population, consist of contiguous territory and meet "other
applicable provisions of the Voting Rights Act and federal
law."
While the reference to "other applicable provisions" leaves
the door open for other changes, the court pointedly ignored a
GOP-suggested condition that would require significant changes
to the current map: "geographic compactness."
The court also made no direct mention of "political fairness."
In fact, it explicitly prohibited Persily from considering how
the map favors or disfavors Democrats or Republicans.
"In fashioning his plan," the court said, "the Special Master
shall not consider either the residency of incumbents or
potential candidates or other political data, such as party
registration statistics or election returns."
[Please read the rest of this article at the CT MIRROR website]
Attorneys Argue Over Where Special Master Should Start
CTNEWSJUNKIE
by Christine Stuart | Dec 30, 2011 3:12pm
Attorneys for Republicans, Democrats, and Gov. Dannel P.
Malloy were able to agree on which two special masters to put
forward to help complete the redistricting process, but they
were unable to agree on where the special master‘s task will
start.
Aaron Bayer, the attorney for the Democrats, told the Supreme
Court Friday that “deference has to be to the last successful
redistricting process.” Democrats on the commission have
staunchly defended the 2001 map, which merged the 5th and 6th
districts and pit two incumbents against each other.
The current map needs only “modest changes“ to bring it into
compliance, Bayer argued.
Each Congressional district needs to include 714,819 people
this year and the 2nd district has a population of about
729,771 people, according to U.S. Census data. As a result
Democrats have argued for making minimal changes.
Bayer also argued that the special master should ignore the
traditional redistricting criteria used in developing a
redistricting plan.
“The Connecticut constitution does not include any of these
criteria for Congressional redistricting, as some state
constitutions do,” Bayer wrote in his brief. “That these
criteria may be considered in the legislative redistricting
process does not mean that courts are required to do so.”
[Please read the rest of this article at the CT NEWS JUNKIE website]
GOP Leader Calls On Guv To Withdraw Court Appearance
CTNEWSJUNKIE
by Christine Stuart | Dec 29, 2011 11:49am
(Updated 1:14 p.m.) House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero
thinks Gov. Dannel P. Malloy overstepped his authority when he
filed an appearance on the redistricting petition currently
before the Supreme Court. Cafero called the move
“disturbing” and said it creates the appearance of partisan
politics and “undue influence” on a court proceeding. He
called on the governor Thursday to withdraw the appearance.
“This is a process that excluded the governor,” Cafero said.
“As the defacto leader of the Democratic party, who has the
power to appoint Supreme Court justices, it’s completely
inappropriate.”
In addition to nominating the justices, the governor has the
power to appoint the nine-member Reapportionment Commission
under the state Constitution, but Cafero said that’s where his
power ends.
Andrew McDonald, Malloy’s chief legal counsel, said Wednesday
that an appearance was filed by the governor because “this is
uncharted legal territory and the governor wants to ensure
Connecticut residents are adequately represented.”
“Rep. Cafero is simply mistaken,” McDonald said of the
accusations. “Connecticut’s constitution specifically provides
that once the commission Rep. Cafero co-chaired failed to
fulfill its obligations, ‘any registered voter’ could
participate in the Supreme Court proceedings.”
“The Governor had urged the members of the commission to get
this job done. Now that it is in the Supreme Court, he intends
to advocate for a redistricting plan that is fair to all of
Connecticut’s citizens and is accomplished within the
timelines set forth in the constitution. We will not be
withdrawing from the case,” McDonald said in a statement
Thursday.
Asked what the governor’s concerns were McDonald said there’s
a concern that there may be an effort to undermine the
“communities of interest” in the proceedings.
[Please read the rest of this article at the CT NEWS JUNKIE website]
Special Master Will Be Appointed for Redistricting, But
Court Holds Out Hope for Legislative Solution
Hartford Courant
By DANIELA ALTIMARI
12:55 PM EST, December 27, 2011
The
state Supreme Court
will appoint a special master to help redraw Connecticut's
congressional maps. But the court also directed the
legislature's Redistricting Commission to continue working on a
redistricting plan. The court outlined the redistricting
process in an order issued Tuesday.
“We are mindful that the drawing of voting districts is a
political question and is quintessentially a legislative
function,'' the court stated in its order. But, it added, the
court is bound by the state Constitution, “and the deadline set
therein to commence work on the petition immediately.”
“While the foregoing proceedings are ongoing, however, the
commission shall continue working to agree on a redistricting
plan,'' the order states. “[A]nd we maintain hope that legislative
action will be forthcoming.”
[Please read the rest of this article at the Hartford COURANT website]
Deadline Looms For Reapportionment
Commission
CTNEWSJUNKIE
by
Christine Stuart | Dec 14, 2011 5:30am
Posted to:
Courts, Election 2012, Election Policy, Legal
“One more
week,” Kevin Johnston, the ninth member of the Reapportionment
Commission shouted to a security guard as he crossed the Capitol
parking lot Tuesday.
He was
referring to the one week the commission has left to draw lines on
the Congressional maps before the court-ordered Dec. 21 deadline.
Some members
of the commission will meet Wednesday to see if they’re any closer
than they were last month when bipartisanship faded almost
immediately after it voted on the maps for the General Assembly’s
187 House and Senate districts.
The four
Republican lawmakers on the commission drew the five Congressional
districts very differently than the four Democratic lawmakers on
the commission. Johnston, a former state auditor and lawmaker from
Pomfret, was added to the commission in November to be arbitrate
between the two sides.
The
Republican map of the five districts pushes Bridgeport into the
3rd Congressional District with New Haven and creates a 4th
Congressional District that would be favorable to a Republican
candidate. The map drawn by the Democrats makes few changes to the
current map and simply shifts the increased 15,000 people in the
2nd Congressional District from east to west, mostly by moving
15,000 people in Glastonbury to the 5th Congressional District.
[Please read the rest of this article at the CT NEWS JUNKIE website]
Court
gives redistricting commission until Dec. 21 to draw
congressional map
Mark
Pazniokas, CT MIRROR
December 2,
2011
The
Connecticut Supreme Court on Friday extended the deadline for
drawing new congressional districts to Dec. 21, keeping the
politically sensitive task in the hands of state legislators for
nearly another three weeks.
The
legislature's bipartisan redistricting commission sought the
extension after missing its deadline of midnight Wednesday. It
unanimously approved new districts for 151 state House and 36
state Senate districts.
But
Democratic and Republican negotiators on the commission disagree
sharply over a congressional map, with Republicans seeking major
changes that would transform the 4th District into a GOP
stronghold and improve the party's chances in the 5th.
Ten years
ago, the commission members convinced the Supreme Court to grant
it more time for congressional redistricting, but its members
could tell the court in good faith that substantial progress was
being made.
In 2001, the
state had a six-member U.S. House delegation, evenly split between
Democrats and Republicans united on one point: no one wanted to
risk leaving a new congressional map to an unpredictable court.
Today, that
is not the case.
[Please read the rest of this article at the CT MIRROR website]
Weston
Senate districts in 26th changed
State legislative districts approved; congressional map
goes to court
Mark Pazniokas, CT MIRROR
November 30, 2011
The General Assembly's bipartisan redistricting commission
unanimously approved new districts Wednesday for the state
House and Senate ahead of a midnight deadline, leaving an
unfinished congressional map in the hands of the
Connecticut Supreme Court.
Attorney General George Jepsen will ask the court to grant
the commission an extension to continue negotiations on
congressional districts, the major piece of unfinished
business. A second potential legal complication: a Latino
group is threatening to challenge the state Senate
districts.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Christopher G. Donovan,
D-Meriden, a commission member and a candidate for
Congress, immediately announced his resignation from the
panel, ceding his seat to House Majority Leader J. Brendan
Sharkey, D-Hamden.
"My goal is to get the maps done. I want to avoid politics
and encourage a bipartisan process," Donovan said.
Donovan, one of four Democrats and five Republicans
running for the open seat in the 5th Congressional
District, has faced weeks of criticism for his role on the
panel from Mark Greenberg, one of the GOP candidates.
Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Fairfield, said
Donovan's resignation will remove a distraction from the
process.
Both the Democratic and Republican congressional maps were
drawn to leave all nine candidates -- five of whom live in
border towns -- in the 5th district. Greenberg said
Donovan's departure was overdue.
[Please read the rest of this article at the CT MIRROR website]
Malloy turns up
the heat on redistricting panel
Mark Pazniokas, CT MIRROR
November 22, 2011
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy offered his first criticism Tuesday
of the legislature's bipartisan redistricting panel,
saying yielding the responsibility to the courts would be
"a gigantic mistake."
"They should get their act together and get
reapportionment done. It's an odd number of people. Get a
vote, and get it done, and stop playing around with it,"
Malloy said.
Failure to produce new legislative districts by Nov. 30
would place the process in the hands of the courts.
"We know how bad Washington looks. We don't need that
replicated in our own state," Malloy said. "So you know,
'The ayes have it.' Have a vote."
The panel already has missed one deadline.
[Please read the rest of this article at the CT MIRROR website]
Open seat makes 5th District the one to
watch in redistricting
CT
MIRROR
By Mark Pazniokas
July 18, 2011
With four public
hearings in three days, the legislature's
Reapportionment Committee this week finishes its first
round of information gathering to be used in drawing
five congressional and 187 state legislative districts
to reflect the 2010 census. Then the fun begins.
Drawing new districts
in Connecticut is an exercise in computer-assisted
puzzle making and old-fashioned horse-trading by a
precisely balanced committee of four Democrats and four
Republicans, with equal numbers from the state House and
Senate.
Based on maps drawn
over the next two months, opportunities could open for
some politicians and close for others.
In the crowded race for
the open seat in the 5th Congressional District, for
example, five candidates live in communities on the
border of two or even three districts: Cheshire,
Farmington, Meriden, Plainville and Simsbury.
"The odds of Meriden
being in the 5th are pretty goddamned good," said
Richard Foley, a former state legislator and state GOP
chairman who was co-chairman of the 1990 Reapportionment
Committee. "That's just a guess."
It's more than a guess.
Meriden is home to House Speaker Christopher G. Donovan,
a candidate for Congress in the 5th and, as Foley is
well aware, one of the four Democrats on this year's
Reapportionment Committee.
Others may not be so
lucky.
[Please read the rest of this article at the CT MIRROR website]