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

Just for kicks, Profiles in Redistricting Courage #4

Rep. John Moore (R-Brandon)

Yesterday on the floor of the House, Rep. Tommy Reynolds (D-Charleston) spoke again about the process he went through as chairman of the House Apportionment and Elections Committee in drawing the House redistricting plan. During that speech, he referenced taking the time to come in on a snow day and sit down with 4 Republican House members to help them draw their districts. He even related that one of them drew their district in crayon. What he wouldn't say, however, is who the 4 Republican legislators were.

This morning, Rep. John Moore (R-Brandon) went on state-funded SuperTalk radio and attacked Rep. Reynolds relentlessly over redistricting and his floor speech. Well, guess what? Rep. John Moore was one of the 4 Republican legislators Rep. Reynolds met with on that fateful snow day. In fact, Rep. John Moore spent that snow day with Rep. Reynolds splitting up Brandon.  Not sure if he was the one who used the crayon, but I bet we can find out.

Can you imagine the fun we're going to have once discovery begins in the federal court?

Senate to take up redistricting this morning, Profiles in Redistricting Courage suspended

Since the Senate is to begin debating redistricting this morning, we will suspend the extremely popular "Profiles in Redistricting Courage" until further notice.

Follow Cottonmouth on Twitter or all the action as it happens.

Profile in Redistricting "Courage" #3

This afternoon's Profile in Redistricting "Courage" is a twofer from Sumrall. Rep. Harvey Fillingane and his son, Sen. Joey Fillingane, have already had an active year in redistricting.

Rep. Harvey Fillingane (R-Sumrall)

Sen. Joey Fillingane (R-Sumrall)

During the redistriting process, Senator Fillingane delivered a note to the House Reappropriation Committee requesting that the committee split the town of Sumrall.  The proposal didn't sit too well with the citizens of Sumrall, and WDAM took note.

Sumrall Mayor Gerolene Rayborn suspected that this split was made for political reasons and in fact, Rep. Filingane does have an opponent from Sumrall who has qualified, Republican Hank Lott.

Hoping to gain support for this strategy, Rep. Fillingane distributed a map of the proposed plan showing Sumrall split in half to some citizens of the town. This drew the ire of Mayor Rayborn and several other Sumrall residents. When the heat was turned up, Rep. Fillingane withdrew the request made by his son to the House Committee. File under "gerrymandering misfire".

Profile in Redistricting "Courage" #2

Our second Profile in Redistricting "Courage" is Rep. Phillip Gunn (R-Clinton):

The Butcher of Clinton

Gunn's new district splits almost every precinct in my hometown of Clinton.  Clinton only has one unsplit precinct as a result.  Gunn was aware of this before the plan was unveiled, and he liked it. The fact that Gunn enjoyed the carving of Clinton so much is rather odd when you read this quote from the February 28, 2011 edition of the Clarion-Ledger:

Rep. Philip Gunn, R-Clinton, said from what he's hearing, the proposed House map makes "vast improvement" in the splits over the current map, though he has not seen it in its entirety.

Why, you may ask, would Gunn revel in carving up Clinton?  Well, let's look at the numbers:

The BVAP numbers for the City of Clinton as a whole:

Clinton 1: 20.50%
Clinton 2: 17.64%
Clinton 3: 26.08%
Clinton 4: 24.83%
Clinton 5: 13.12%
Clinton 6: 31.47%

Now let's look at the BVAP as Gunn likes it:

Clinton 1 (split): 11.62% (difference of -8.88%)
Clinton 2 (split): 12.48% (difference of -5.16%)
Clinton 3 (split): 14.94% (difference of -11.14%)
Clinton 4 (split): 12.28% (difference of -12.55%)
Clinton 5: 13.12% (whole precinct)
Clinton 6 (split): Gunn's share of this precinct has no population.

Now, we don't know exactly how much of the map he saw, but he certainly saw his own part.  Hypocrisy at its best... 

Coming soon: Profiles in Redistricting "Courage"

Each morning and afternoon, we will be highlighting the actions of members of the legislature as it relates to redistricting. These individuals have been selected for their engagement of the redistricting process and their subsequent denial of their own activity. Many of these members engaged in some or all of the following behavior: 1) drawing potential opponents out of districts; 2) drawing districts in a way to reduce the black voting age population of their districts; and 3) requesting geographical areas reasoned to be more favorable to their electoral goals. This exercise has become necessary in order to bring the truth to the citizens of Mississippi and shed light on the redistricting process.

We will continue to post these profiles in "courage" until Lt. Governor Phil Bryant performs his constitutional duty and allows an open and fair consideration of the redistricting maps by the full Senate. We'll follow a simple formula: We'll stop telling the truth about Republicans as soon as they stop lying about Democrats.