Friday, May 6, 2011

Rep. Tommy Reynolds: Republicans asked us to protect Rep. Russ Nowell, and we complied

In an affidavit filed as an exhibit to the House Election Committee's Response to the Order setting the hearing in NAACP v. Haley Barbour, et al, Rep. Tommy Reynolds (D-Charleston) discusses some of the behind-the-scenes dealings that led to the creation of House Consensus Plans 1 and 2, otherwise known as the Joint Committee House redistricting plans.

The most interesting part to me? Republicans asked that party-switcher Rep. Russ Nowell (R-Louisville) be protected, and he was.  Instead of collapsing his district, Rep. Mary Ann Stevens (D-West) was thrown into Rep. Ferr Smith's (D-Carthage) district.

There are also some pretty strong rebuttals to oft-repeated Republican complaints regarding drawing challengers out of districts and splitting municipalities.  (One instance of that's already been noted here.)

Read the affidavit for yourself here:

Reynolds Affidavit

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