{"id":16751,"date":"2021-10-06T01:30:21","date_gmt":"2021-10-06T01:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=16751"},"modified":"2021-10-05T20:01:45","modified_gmt":"2021-10-05T20:01:45","slug":"a-valley-divided","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2021\/10\/06\/a-valley-divided\/","title":{"rendered":"A Valley Divided"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018Sectional disunity\u2019 sited as a \u2018major concern\u2019 <\/i><\/span>at redistricting session, throughout history<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

By Eric Valentine<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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Eric Parker, Bellevue, Republican candidate for District 26 Senate seat currently held by Idaho State Senate Minority Leader Michelle Stennett, Ketchum, speaking at last year\u2019s public debate. Photo credit: Wood River Weekly archives<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cPolarized\u201d\u2014it\u2019s the description many Americans, from the political pundits to the plain spoken, use these days to describe their country. On one hand, it\u2019s the key ingredient in civil discord soup. On the other hand, it\u2019s the idyllic \u2018melting pot\u2019 stew where compromise\u2014and not just one side or special interest\u2014is what wins out in the end. Note: See current debt-ceiling debate or [insert media coverage of favorite issue here] for real-time examples.<\/span><\/p>\n

So when it comes time to decide in a representative democracy who will get to make decisions for us\u2014aka redistricting\u2014vitriolic and sometimes accurate words like gerrymandering get hurled. To be clear, gerrymandering is the redrawing of congressional or electoral districts in order to gain a political advantage over another party. Redistricting is the process of redrawing electoral district boundaries. Both are legal, one is frowned upon. <\/span><\/p>\n

As recently as 2019, the Supreme Court of the United States majority opinion (5\u20134 if you are keeping score at home) established that \u201cextreme partisan\u201d gerrymandering is unconstitutional, but it is up to Congress and individual state\u2019s legislative bodies to find ways to restrict or regulate that. Translation: Everybody, as you were.<\/span><\/p>\n

What does it mean for the Valley? It could mean absolutely nothing since the Idaho Commission for Reapportionment\u2014the six-member bipartisan panel charged with establishing districts\u2014has one plan on the table that changes nothing at all. Or it could spell big changes for the Valley if they go with a second proposal that would lump Blaine County with its southern neighbors of Lincoln and Jerome counties. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not unhappy (with the second option) but of course I don\u2019t want to lose Camas County,\u201d said Debbie Oneill, a self-described Republican activist who serves as candidate Eric Parker\u2019s campaign manager. \u201cUnder the new redistricting map, I think Eric would win.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Parker ran as a Republican for the District 26 state senate seat in the most recent election. He lost to Democrat incumbent Michelle Stennett. <\/span><\/p>\n

Although Oneill believes a Parker candidacy would garner several hundred Camas County votes, she said she isn\u2019t convinced Parker would need those votes. That\u2019s because she says the uptick in the number of conservative Republicans across the Valley becoming more active and involved here could make things sway red.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRight now we don\u2019t have representation at the state,\u201d Oneill said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter that Idaho is red. If a conservative resident has an issue in District 26, they don\u2019t have a conservative representative who will hear their voice. Our voices are going unheard.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Idaho Commission for Reapportionment is to have the new district\u2019s approved and in place by Feb. 28, 2022\u2014when the filing period for 2022 primary election candidates open. The state\u2019s redistricting commission comprises three former politicians who are Republicans and three public servants who are Democrats. Whichever redistricting plan they choose will need to be approved by at least four of the six commissioners.<\/span><\/p>\n

To submit testimony or learn more, visit legislature.idaho.gov\/redistricting\/2021. <\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2018Sectional disunity\u2019 sited as a \u2018major concern\u2019 at redistricting session, throughout history By Eric Valentine \u201cPolarized\u201d\u2014it\u2019s the description many Americans, from the political pundits to the plain spoken, use these days to describe their country. On one hand, it\u2019s the key ingredient in civil discord soup. On the other hand, it\u2019s the idyllic \u2018melting pot\u2019 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":16755,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[75,88,18,26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16751","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-elections","8":"category-local","9":"category-news","10":"category-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16751"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16757,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16751\/revisions\/16757"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}