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Republican Court Challenges Seek to Keep Gerrymandering Alive in Virginia

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A Supreme Court ruling in a Virginia gerrymandering case could have a major impact on Virginia’s political landscape. 11 of Virginia’s House of Delegates districts were struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in March, 2017 after the court found that those districts had been racially gerrymandered to dilute the voting power of African American voters.

Now, Republican legislators, including Speaker of the House of Delegates Kirk Cox, are appealing to the Supreme Court once again, making the argument that since the 2011 district map was approved by a bipartisan majority in 2011, it should not be redrawn until its regularly scheduled revision in 2021.

Republicans currently control Virginia’s House of Delegates by a razor thin margin of 51-49, but the redistricting process could shift the balance of power in favor of the Democratic party. The 11 districts that are being redrawn are primarily located in eastern Virginia, between Richmond and Hampton Roads, and touch an additional 20 districts that will be impacted by the redistricting process.

The state’s legislature and governor were given an opportunity to redraw the map by October 30, 2018, but couldn’t agree on new boundaries for the districts. The redistricting process has been passed to a special master, Bernard Grofman, who will have the final say in the mapping process.

Grofman redrew several of Virginia’s House of Representatives districts in 2015 after they were found to have violated racial gerrymandering laws. The new map led to the creation of a Democratic-leaning seat outside of Richmond that elected Donald McEachin in 2016.

Republican politicians oversaw the redistricting process in Virginia in 2011 when they had a significant majority in the both the House and Senate, and they’ve been in control of the general assembly ever since. Meanwhile, a majority of Virginians have voted for Democratic candidates in all presidential, U.S. Senate, and gubernatorial elections since 2012.

Brian Cannon, executive director of redistricting advocacy group OneVirginia2021, said that the Republicans who oversaw the 2011 redistricting process acted in a self-serving manner that has allowed them to retain a majority in the general assembly.

“The worst case scenario for redrawing districts is to let politicians do it because, not only are they the ones who got us into this mess in the first place, but they’re the most self interested people in the whole universe to draw these districts,” Cannon said.

Sam Wang, director of Princeton Gerrymandering Project, said that the Republican party’s racial gerrymandering served two interests: to reduce the power of African Americans by giving them very few districts, and to reduce the number of Democratically-held districts in the state.

“The Virginia state legislature has one of the strongest gerrymanders, from the partisan standpoint, in the country,” Wang said. “This redraw will level the playing field, not only for African Americans but for the two major parties, so that’s what’s at stake here.”

As part of Virginia Republicans’ current appeal to the Supreme Court, Cox has proposed that Virginia’s 2019 primaries be moved three months later, from June 10 to September 10, in order to give the Supreme Court time to release a ruling that is expected in May 2019. Cox has also argued that Grofman’s map shouldn’t be released until after the Supreme Court rules, since the court could conceivably rule in his and the Republicans’ favor.

The outcome of the 2019 Virginia state elections will likely determine which party will oversee the state redistricting process in 2021. Ben Williams, legal analyst for Princeton Gerrymandering Project, said that a shift in the balance of power won’t eliminate the possibility of a partisan gerrymander in 2021.

“Anytime that a single political party has control over redistricting, there’s a chance that districting will end up favoring that party,” Williams said. “I think that from a good government standpoint, it will lead to greater stability and greater competition if there are routes found that make redistricting either independent, non-partisan or bipartisan.”

Additional reporting by Marilyn Drew Necci; Image by Stephen Wolf, via DailyKos

In Wake of School Shootings, Delegates Push for Comprehensive Safety Approach

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What makes a school safe? Three state delegates say it’s more than checkpoints and metal detectors, and that their colleagues in the Virginia House aren’t doing enough to keep kids safe.

Delegates Schuyler VanValkenburg of the 72nd District, Mike Mullin of the 93rd District, and Jeff Bourne of the 71st District have issued a set of policy proposals to Virginia Speaker Kirk Cox and a newly-formed Select Committee on School Safety advocating a broader approach than their current focus on school shootings.

Reached by phone yesterday, VanValkenburg, a public school teacher, said the Department of Education defines school safety by several components, listing, “bullying, discrimination, day-to-day violence, the school climate.” He said he’d never downplay the tragedy of a school shooting scenario, but that school safety is too important to focus on only one issue.

“It seems to be the status quo for a lot of these committees to define a narrow focus around school shooters and how you can keep them out,” he said. “Fixing how you enter a school is an appropriate step, but it’s not adequate [on it’s own].” The safety committee has refused to consider gun policy or behavioral health according to a statement by Cox that referred to other considerations as “partisan.”

The delegates want Cox and the committee to increase support staff and provide mental health services, all in line with Department of Education guidelines. “You need to be looking at the behavioral and emotional needs of children,” VanValkenburg said. State spending on schools has fallen sharply since the recession of 2008, resulting in a $1 billion dollar shortfall. One consequence of that funding gap has been a reduction in support staff. The other consequence has been insufficient infrastructure spending, which has exacerbated the physical deterioration of Richmond public school buildings.

Following the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, safety committees have sprung up in localities and states across the country, all focused on mass-casualty shooting attacks. VanValkenburg pointed to statistics on violence that show most children find safe refuge from guns in school. A 2015 report by Erin Nekvasil and Dewey Cornell at the University of Virginia showed that children were 200 times more likely to be the victim of homicide outside of schools, supporting VanValkenburg’s numbers, and calling into question the “hardening” mindset that the state committee is solely considering.

“School safety isn’t just homicides,” he said. While making students safer is good on its own, he argued that a broader focus offers even more benefits. “If you’re being holistic in looking at school safety issues, the knock-on effect is that you’re improving education, period.”

Despite Cox’s initial statements, VanValkenburg was hopeful that their proposals would be included in the final safety committee report, due before the House begins its fall session in November. Some forty-five groups have signed letters making similar policy requests, including the Legal Aid Center, Richmond Academy of Medicine, and Moms Demand Action. “There’s a coalition of people who want this,” he said. ”Hopefully as we move to the subcommittee hearings, we’ll be able to get those ideas out and to the committee.”