Redistricting

Neither party got what they wanted out of the maps, which endanger one GOP lawmaker and one Dem lawmaker

Rep. Carnahan decided to run against Dem Rep. Lacy Clay instead of running in a GOP-leaning district.

Control of redistricting in New York will be handed to a federal court after state lawmakers were unable to agree on a new proposal for the state's congressional lines.

Lawmakers in the Democratic-controlled state Assembly and GOP-controlled state Senate have been working for almost a year to draft a suitable map, but Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) threatened to veto the version they submitted weeks ago, calling it overly partisan.

With lawmakers expected to be unable to meet a Monday night deadline to propose a new map, a panel of three federal judges put in place a process for the courts to draw the new lines. U.S. Magistrate Roanne Mann has been named as the special master and ordered the panel to develop a new proposal by Wednesday, the Times Union reported.

New York is losing two congressional seats in 2012 due to population growth over the past decade that was slower than in other states.

The state has a number of competitive primaries due to a complete redistricting overhaul by Democrats in the state legislature.

The planned April primary in Texas is now almost certain to be pushed back to May or even June, threatening to relegate the state to political irrelevance in the fight for the Republican presidential nomination.

Texas originally scheduled its primary for Super Tuesday in March, where the contest would have received heavy attention. But the pandemonium surrounding the state’s new congressional map, which is still tied up in the courts, forced it to be rescheduled for April.

Now judges in Texas say an April date is implausible, the AP reported, with one federal judge suggesting June 26 for the new primary date. That would put Texas at the back of the pack and likely defuse any substantial influence the state could wield over the presidential nominating contest.

Texas gained four seats in Congress due to fast population growth over the past decade, forcing the state to redraw its maps and create new districts. But disagreements over whether those seats should be drawn to favor Republicans or Democrats have led to an escalating legal fight with major ramifications for future control of the House.

Republican lawmakers originally drew a map that federal judges said failed to reflect Hispanic population gains that netted Texas new seats in the first place. But a counterproposal was deemed to have deviated too far from the original intent of lawmakers who drew the map.

The decision to redraw the maps will likely favor Republicans in the state, which has delayed its primaries until April.

West Virginia officials are asking the Supreme Court to weigh in on a congressional redistricting map thrown out by a lower court.

The officials filed an appeal to Chief Justice John Roberts on Friday, essentially asking the high court to let the map drawn by the West Virginia legislature stand.

That map was approved and signed into law after making very minor changes to the state’s map.

But in a split decision, a three-judge federal panel ordered state lawmakers to come up with another plan by Jan. 17.  The judges charged that, by making so few changes, lawmakers had not adequately divided the population in the three congressional districts. Read more...

Republican Elton Gallegly will not seek reelection in 2012.

Read more...

Lawmakers in West Virginia will go back to the drawing table to redraft a new map for the state’s congressional districts after a three-judge panel deemed the Legislature’s plan unconstitutional.

A panel voted 2-1 to reject the new map, alleging it maintained the status quo at the expense of equaling out the population size in each district, Reuters reported.

Legislators have until Jan. 17 to put a new plan together, or the courts will take over the process.

Democrats control the redistricting process in West Virginia, where the governor’s mansion and both chambers of the Legislature are in Democratic hands.

Redistricting has wrapped up in most states, but a few stragglers will carry their fight over into 2012.