Michele Bachmann might not return to Congress, if one of the scenarios at Swing State Project for redistricting Minnesota after the 2010 U.S. Census comes to pass.
SSP diarist Nathaniel90 has analyzed nearly half the states’ redistricting possibilities, but Minnesota is the first with politics complicated enough to warrant two possible maps — one if Republicans retain the governorship, another if the DFL party somehow breaks its jinx and gains that office in 2010.
Both scenarios assume Minnesota moves from eight to seven congressional districts, jumbling familiar boundaries and district numbers.
The first version, the imagined result of bipartisan redistricting, protects Bachmann’s seat. Instead it pits incumbent Democrat Rep.Tim Walz against incumbent Republican Rep. John Kline in a reconfigured First District in the state’s southeastern corner.
The second version, with Democrats controlling the state Legislature and the governor’s office, puts Kline up against fellow Republican Bachmann in a new district that wraps around the Twin Cities in a U shape. Nathaniel90 concedes, however, that Bachmann still could emerge the victor in a GOP primary battle.
For reference, here’s the current Congressional map. Note: District numbers don’t match because the maps above envision seven districts instead of the current eight.
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5 Comments »
Comment posted April 26, 2009 @ 9:43 am
Well, good. Fine. Then she can focus solely on a run for the White House. We want a Bachman/Palin ticket in 2012!!!! Yeah!!
Comment posted April 26, 2009 @ 12:01 pm
Instead of this jockeying for the ever-shrinking representation pie, we really should start to consider increasing the size of the House of Representatives, whose size was frozen nearly a hundred years ago.
Since then, the number of people per representative has doubled.
Doubling or tripling (or more!) the size of the House would have so many benefits to us all (except for the existing Representatives, who would lose power) that it’s a true shame that the subject never comes up.
Briefly: better representation; lower cost to run for Congress, harder to bribe and less need to bribe more Representatives (because if one could run for $10s or $100s of thousands, they could compete with the bribed ones); make the Electoral College more representative of the populations of the states; provide better “equal protection” of those represented (right now the “districts” vary wildly in population per Representative); de-power individual Representatives, who have become like Princes under the current system, and make them into the “Peoples’ House” again.
There are more benefits. And it would only take Congress deciding to do it: no amendments or changes to the Constitution are required (we just saw that in the compromise recently with D.C. representation and Utah).
You can read about this idea more at: http://www.thirty-thousand.org/
Comment posted April 26, 2009 @ 7:58 pm
It’s a little bit dated since I wrote a blog commentary about The Redistricting Game in January of 2008, however the game is still applicable.
Regarding the Bachmann effect, since the election would be held in 2012, wouldn’t she be a prime candidate versus Klobuchar ?
And as Redistricting is being considered, it is not only the Governor and the Legislature that have influence. Historically, Minnesota has resorted to using the Minnesota Supreme Court Special Redistricting Panel to create the districts. Considering the “political” affliations of the MN-Supreme Court with many owing their seats to Republican Governor Pawlenty, I would not be surprised if Bachmann is protected and Kline is left to battle Walz.
FYI : The Redistricting Game was developed by the University of Southern California and is designed to educate, engage, and empower citizens around the issue of political redistricting. The game will show a wide range of abuses and manipulations that encourage incumbents to draw districts which protect their seats rather than risk an open contest. The game allows players to explore the ways in which abuses can undermine the system, and provides info about reform initiatives.
Pingback posted May 1, 2009 @ 10:01 am
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Pingback posted June 29, 2009 @ 6:04 pm
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