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Fair representation
With a population of about 6,000 people, the entire County of Rappahannock makes up only one percent of the total population of a Congressional District, and less than five percent of a state senate district. Nonetheless, we were split during both redistricting sessions, most recently when the General Assembly redrew Congressional districts last week to incorporate the new district Virginia gained due to population growth in the 1980s.
We’re not going to attack the Democrats in Richmond for partisan politics, understanding as we do that it’s the nature of the game for them to do whatever is necessary to maintain or increase their numerical advantage.
What Democrats fail to understand, however, is that they ignored the first principle of redistricting: Put communities of interest together when you can, then set out to modify the plan in ways that give your party whatever advantage you can find. When areas like the Shenandoah Valley, or Richmond, or whole counties are kept together, the plan is much more defensible and will provide Virginians with much better representation.
Instead we’re left with district maps that look like a computer drew them—which is exactly what happened. We don’t mind the Democrats drawing lines that will help their own get elected, but we have a real problem with district lines that serve that purpose and no other. The objective ought to be fair representation for all Virginians, and so far the Democrats have not achieved that in any of their three redistricting plans.
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