The Senate’s redistricting committee continued its consideration of congressional maps, and publicly introduced its first proposed senatorial district maps, during a meeting Wednesday afternoon.
The body now has more than two dozen congressional maps and several state Senate maps to consider.
Much of the discussion Wednesday centered around how to ensure that districts be appropriately compact. Senators discussed case law regarding what would constitute a compact district. The committee’s general counsel Liz Schindzielorz explained that compactness is a constitutional requirement, while acknowledging that it’s a difficult challenge in a small state with two panhandles.
Committee chairman Charles Trump (R-Morgan, 15) emphasized the need to keep districts compact given the fact that West Virginia’s congressional representation is being reduced from three members to two.
“Each member of the House of Representatives is going to go from representing 600,000 West Virginians to representing 900,000 West Virginians,” Trump said. “To me, an important feature is going to be that the districts be reasonably compact.”
Much like last week, the debate on drawing two congressional districts was divided, not by party, but by region. Senators representing southern counties generally favored a north-south split, with senators representing northern counties wanting to keep the growth areas around Morgantown and the Eastern Panhandle separate.
Senators Chandler Swope (R-Mercer, 6) and Mike Woelfel (D-Cabell, 5) reiterated their belief that a north-south split would ensure a high level of representation in the south, and that the culture and history in the south does not align with the panhandle regions.
Senators Glen Jeffries (D-Putnam, 08) and Mike Caputo (D-Marion, 13) preferred an east-west split, keeping the two growth areas in Morgantown and the Eastern Panhandle separate.
“I think you’re going to have a congressperson who represents a vibrant part of the state versus a non-vibrant part of the state in each of those districts (east-west scenario),” Caputo said. “In my opinion, it will be the duty of that congressperson to help that district grow.”
The committee did not make any decisions and plans to meet again today at 3 p.m. Any recommendations coming out of the committee this week will not be final. A special session of the full Legislature is anticipated next week, and the House redistricting committee will also weigh in on this mapping process that occurs every 10 years.
