In which we create a new Senate district downstate. But…will the ‘new’ district be truly new? I propagandize, you decide.
OK, kids, for those of you who came late to class, or just didn’t bother to show up, you will want to read these two seminal treatises on redistricting here and here. Well, perhaps not seminal treatises, but they’re a treat for statheads and redistricting fanatics like me. Plus, it’ll help you make sense of this installment, if indeed there is sense to be made.
Anyway, if you can only remember two numbers, let them be 21 and 40,621. There are 21 Senate districts in Delaware and the minimal permissible population for each is 40, 621. In other words, in order to create a new district downstate (we’ve already shown how to do away with two districts upstate) you need to cull that population from existing districts. The population’s there. Follow along with Chad Livengood’s article in the Journal, and you will see how to build a new district. For purposes of this exercise, I will first stipulate that every incumbent in the area under discussion today will have a district in which to run. The Senate D’s took the loss of Queen Bee (not to be confused with Aunt Bea) hard. They could try to craft the 15th to make it even more favorable to Cook, or to cut out Sen. David Lawson entirely (he lives in Marydel, on the DE/MD line), should they want to bring her back. The Senate must avoid this mistake. The 15th SD is already a solidly D district, people were just sick of Cook. Leave it more or less alone and let political nature take its course.
Let’s also stipulate that there is next to no such thing as a ‘sure thing’ for the D’s from the 15th SD on south. The good news is that there aren’t many ‘sure things’ for the R’s, either.
Keeping in mind the magic number of 40,621, how do we find that many residents to create a new district? Easy. Here are the populations of districts in the region:
15th (Lawson-R): 51,296 (Plus 10,675)
16th (Bonini-R): 50,103 (Plus 9,482)
17th (Bushweller-D): 47,176 (Plus 6,555)
18th (Simpson-R): 54,015 (Plus 13,394)
19th (Booth-R): 48,816 (Plus 8,195)
20th (Bunting-D): 49,455 (Plus 8,834)
21st (Venables-D): 44,799 (Plus 4178)
Of these districts, only Venables’ district, which is in the far southwestern corner of the state, is within the permitted +/- 5% population range. Other than perhaps a little tweaking of the lines to draw someone into the district or someone out of the district, I expect this district to remain pretty intact. Like SD 5 (Cloutier) in the northeastern corner of the state, due to location, these districts don’t lend themselves well to willy-nilly redrawing.
Excluding the 21st, let’s just add up the population available to create a new district, shall we? My trusty calculator spews out a figure of 57,085. More than enough to create a new district. And since districts can have a maximum allowable population of 44,897, there’s plenty of wiggle-room to make this work and to have districts above the minimum requirement and within the plus/minus 5%.
Ladies & Gentlemen, time to make the district. Based on the numbers, I propose that the ‘new’ district be a district for an incumbent senator. That senator? Gary Simpson of Milford. Check out the maps in the News-Journal article, and you can build the district along with me. Simpson resides in the far northern area of his district. He has by far the largest population growth of any downstate district. He can take the northern portion of his district, part of the southwestern portion of Bonini’s district (Bonini lives just south of Dover, so he doesn’t live in this area), and the northeastern portion of Booth’s district. I would actually take an even bigger chunk out of Bonini’s district, the southern portion west of the S. DuPont Highway, and an even bigger chunk out of Booth’s. Bonini could get his numbers back from the portion of the 15th around Viola and Woodside East, both immediately adjacent to his existing district. Bonini would also lose his Milford area ED’s to Simpson. Booth could pick up some extra numbers from the northwestern portion of Bunting’s district. There would need to be some adjusting and indirect shifting, but Simpson would retain his 18th SD, Bonini would have a tougher district in which to run, and Booth’s district would be more compact.
So, where, O where, is the new Senate District, El Somnambulo? My answer is, “Meet the new district, almost the same as the old district.”
The brand new district is the coastal portion of the district vacated by Gary Simpson. Call it SD 13. Or SD 4. The district would include both Lewes and Rehoboth, and would be a Democratic-leaning district. Which, come to think of it, resolves a particularly thorny political issue in a Solomonic manner. Here’s how. I will first quote from my favorite political philosopher, me:
Folks, the simplest way to resolve Senate redistricting is for Sen. David McBride, who actually lives in Lewes, 90 minutes away from the southernmost tip of his district, to retire. I make this proposal not (just) because he doesn’t live remotely close to his district any more (even though he maintains an official ‘residence’ there), and not (just) because he’s spent over 30 years in Dover. It’s because his district is ideally situated to address virtually every remaining redistricting issue in New Castle County. McBride was so obstinate during reapportionment that he insisted that every place he had once lived remain in his district, even as he had moved southward five times during his bloated tenure in the General Assembly. Also, since he had once paved the streets in Dunleith some three decades ago, he insisted that the predominantly African-American communities of Rosemont and Dunleith remain in his district.You know, to show that he was a civil rights pioneer, or something.
Perhaps I was a little too hasty in my call for Dave McBride to retire. Under my devious scenario, his New Castle-based 13th SD would become the Lewes-based 13th SD. And, because he lives in Lewes, he would be the incumbent senator for the 13th. How could he possibly complain?
Don’t you just love a happy ending? I know I do.
Coming up next: The House of Representatives!