Redistricting a highly political, controversial process

One year from now, Utah legislators will be in the redistricting process. It will impact the political futures of hundreds of Utah officials as candidates run in new districts in 2012. This once-a-decade procedure always creates political heat and raises some questions:

The citizens initiative to create an independent, non-partisan redistricting commission failed to get on the ballot. Is it possible to take politics out of redistricting?

Pignanelli: "The American political system is like fast food — mushy, insipid, made out of disgusting parts of things and everybody wants some." — PJ O'Rourke. A nasty, brutish, petty activity that fosters selfishness and greed best describes the dynamics of reapportionment — and that is just within each political party's caucuses. If the purest of souls were appointed to a neutral redistricting commission, they would still be bombarded with pressure from rural, urban, ethnic, geographic, municipal/county concerns along with incumbents seeking protection of the positions to which they were rightfully elected. To balance these legitimate interests, even the most sainted would resort to … (gasp) politics.

Webb: Redistricting is an inherently political exercise. Assigning it to other groups only moves the politics to a different level and reduces accountability to voters. The Legislature is best suited to create new districts. I believe lawmakers next year will go to great lengths to make the process transparent and inclusive. They will hold dozens of hearings around the state and receive suggestions from all interested parties. They might even make software available so individuals and groups can create their own redistricting plans. It will be the most open redistricting process ever.

What individuals and parties are likely to be winners and losers in redistricting?

Webb: A fundamental principle of redistricting is one man, one vote. Districts must be equal in population. That means rapid-growth areas like northern Utah County and Washington County will pick up seats, while no-growth or slow-growth areas will lose. A fact of life is that no-growth areas are often represented by Democrats, while Republicans dominate high-growth areas. Thus, some Democratic districts are going to be consolidated. Two incumbents might end up in the same district. Equal population also means that some cities, counties and neighborhoods will have to be divided. It's simply impossible to fit all of Utah's 29 counties, hundreds of cities and thousands of neighborhoods into 29 Senate districts and 75 House districts, without cutting through a lot of boundaries.