Monday, May 16, 2011

****BREAKING*** - ORDER FILED. 2011 LEGISLATIVE RACES WILL BE RUN IN EXISTING DISTRICTS

Here's the Order.

This is a big win for Democrats, as it preserves their majority in the House.  The Republican strategy of pushing the redistricting battle to the courts in order to get more favorable districts has failed.

17 comments:

tom said...

Existing districts as per the 2000 census, or existing districts as per the existing 2011 proposals? Will there be two elections?

(I hope these questions don't sound as clueless to you as they do to me.)

Kingfish said...

Big win for Delbert is what your story should say and you know it.

Unknown said...

Matt, you never cease to amaze me. To call this ruling a "win" for the Democrats made it hard to read your post because it was spinning around so fast. Every move made by the Dems, including the initial filing of this case by the Dems under the cover of their affiliate the NAACP, was to get the 2011 plan adopted. Every post you have made up until now has been that the court was leaning toward such a ruling. Hosemann and the Tea Party were arguing for this ruling - and you call it a win for the Dems.

I guess this certainly will help keep your credibility rating at its present leve..

Cottonmouth said...

Frederick: Sorry you're having a bad day. Every move by Phil Bryant and the GOP during redistricting was made with an eye towards getting the Court to draw the lines. Democrats hold a majority of House seats under the old lines, and that's not likely to change in November. Republicans knew that, and wanted the Court to bail them out. The Court refused to do so.

Kingfish: More accurately, this was a big win for Matt Allen and Robert Gibbs. They were the lawyers representing the SoS in the suit, and the ones who came up with the ripeness strategy that Corey Wilson and Russ Latino piggybacked on.

pinebelt said...

Kingfish is partially right. However the big loser is the senate republicans and to me that is the real story. Several of the present republican senators could be in real trouble and control of the senate could return to the dems and changes in the rules could result in a powerless lt gov. Then the failure of the dems to have a lt gov candidate might not have mattered.

pinebelt said...

Delbert may have been the story, however the losers are the Senate Republicans. Several are goners and actually may give the Dems a chance to retake the senate. If this happens then expect to see rule changes that may make the lt gov powerless. The new house plan may have been a little better for the dems however the old plan was alot better than any plan that could have gotten approval from the gov and Senate republicans

CCPundit said...

How do you like your crow Eichelberger? Deep fried, grilled or baked?

Cottonmouth said...

Tom, the Order says the 2011 elections will be held in under the same district lines as the 2007 elections.

CC, I don't know why I'd be eating crow. I'm pretty sure Phil Bryant's already devoured all of the available crow in Central Mississippi.

Nazianzus said...

I am glad that the Secretary of State made the argument he did, but respectfully, we didn't piggyback off of anyone. We wrote our own brief. The SOS and the Tea Party were both arguing for the same thing, but that doesn't mean we both argued the same thing.

It is a good result for the rule of law and the Mississippi Constitution. I am glad the Court changed its position.

S K said...

Big win for the people of MS who will get to vote in their regular districts instead of those gerrymndered for the convenience of the desperate Dems. It will be a TOTAL win if Billy McCoy reads the handwriting on the wall. Course ol Billy has always been better at talkin' than readin'.

Cottonmouth said...

S K, it's an especially big win for Mississippians in lesser populated areas like the Delta. Their vote now means a good bit more than Mississippians in fast growing areas like Madison, Rankin, and DeSoto Counties.

KellitaJ said...

As a Democrat, I don't see this as a victory. We were supposed to INCREASE our representatives, from 2 State Senators to 3, and from 5 House of Rep members to 7. DeSoto County has grown by 60,000 people, and no longer have representation for one person, one vote... that is not a victory.

TraceB said...

... this was a big win for Matt Allen and Robert Gibbs.

Even Allen and Gibbs are intellectually honest enough to admit that isn't so. The strategy you reflexively laud was ineffectively articulated by those attorneys and on the ropes. The biggest winners, by far, are Latino and Wilbourn. The glory is rightfully theirs.

James Parker said...

I have to agree that this is not a victory for us Democrats. What's not being mentioned - indeed, has been relatively ignored - is the three ballot initiatives (voter i.d., personhood & eminent domain) that will surely prompt Republican turnout at the polls. It's just a shame that the panel recognized how mal-apportioned the districts are; and yet, still rule in favor of using those same districts. So much for 'one person, one vote' huh?

Unknown said...

Matt, for you and for pinebelt - line up your bets and I'll take them. The Senate isn't going to flip, and the House is going to become much more Repub. If you want to start naming those Senate Republicans that are going to lose, or the House Dem seats you are going to gain, bring it on and make your bets. We can get offline and we can make one overall bet or do individual seats.

Your dribble is great, but the facts just don't back it up.

bobby said...

Mal apportioned districts aka existing districts are going to be a key distraction in the upcoming election. The real story is that the Republicans are pushing for a second election during the Presidential race in 2012. They hope by doing this that the anti-Obama vote will help pick up additional Republican seats in both the House and the Senate. True Democrats are already on top of this political posturing!

Cottonmouth said...

Frederick, email me at cottonmouthblog (at) gmail and we'll set up the bet.