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Redistricting plan called 'power grab'
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| Contributor | IndyGeorgia |
| Last Edited | IndyGeorgia Jul 28, 2011 09:08pm |
| Category | Speculative |
| News Date | Jul 28, 2011 09:00pm |
| Description | CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Republican incumbents Shelley Moore Capito and David McKinley could be forced to run against each other to keep their seats under a plan being circulated in the state's Democrat- controlled Legislature.
The plan could force the two to run against each other in 2012 if they want to remain in Congress. It also would leave a congressional seat up for grabs, with no incumbent in the newly drawn district.
Republicans said the plan is purely political.
State Sen. Herb Snyder, D-Jefferson, is proposing the shakeup. Snyder's plan appears to have the favor of Senate Majority Leader John Unger, D-Berkeley. Unger is the head of the Senate's Redistricting Task Force.
Right now, the state's three U.S. House districts all run east to west in belts of varying thickness.
Snyder's plan divides the top of the state into vertical halves and leaves 3rd district Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., to continue representing southern West Virginia.
Capito, a Charleston native who serves the 2nd district, and the 1st district's McKinley, of Wheeling, would both be in the same district, the new 1st.
That would leave an open seat in the newly shaped 2nd, which would include Morgantown, as well as the Eastern Panhandle, where Snyder and Unger both live.
It's not clear how Snyder's plan will fare.
Republicans oppose the plan for obvious reasons. But Democrats may also be wary of unintended consequences, like provoking Capito into making a run for governor or U.S. Senate in 2012. |
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