Opinion

OPINION | BRENDA BLAGG: GOP's new political map for state's future faces likely challenge

GOP’s carving of Pulaski County likely leads to court

The congressional redistricting plan the Legislature sent to Gov. Asa Hutchinson last week will surely be challenged in court.

It should be, although the courts haven't been as reliable as in the past to correct what must be seen as racial gerrymandering.

This plan includes a three-way split of Pulaski County, the state's most populous county, the center of state government and the most diverse population in Arkansas.

Chopping the county into three different congressional districts dilutes the Black and Hispanic voting population, providing the most obvious of reasons for a potential legal challenge.

"We're not supposed to pack these districts and not supposed to crack these districts when it comes to minority groups," explained state Sen. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock and a former candidate for the 2nd District seat in Congress, during debate. "This map does absolutely what it is not supposed to do."

Other lawmakers similarly objected to diluting the minority vote, when other maps could have preserved that bloc.

Nevertheless, a majority of legislators in each house decided to whittle the county into three parts, giving segments to the state's 1st and 4th congressional districts, while leaving the rest to the 2nd District, which has been home to all of Pulaski County since the 1960s.

The plan also met opposition from Pulaski County leaders, including the county judge and mayors of both Little Rock and North Little Rock, which would be split into different congressional districts.

For the record, the Legislature also chose to split Sebastian County on the state's western border into two congressional districts, enlarging how much of the county is in the 4th District and leaving the upper part of the county, including Fort Smith, in the 3rd District.

Local leaders had wanted to get all of Sebastian County back into the 3rd District, reversing the trend set 10 years ago when Sebastian was one of five counties split between two congressional districts.

Other counties that had been split were put back together in the new plan, but several were shifted to other districts to make the numbers work.

The Republican-controlled Legislature was tasked with redrawing boundaries to reflect overall population gains in the 2nd and 3rd Districts and population losses in the 1st and 4th Districts.

That always meant that the 1st and 4th would literally gain ground while the 2nd and 3rd had to shrink in geographic size.

Proponents claim that splitting the denser population in Central Arkansas was the best way to make the numbers work.

The goal was to come up with four districts with as nearly as practicable equal population.

With the state's 2020 population reported at 3,011,524, the ideal district size was set at 752,881.

At least 32 proposed maps were introduced for consideration. A number of them split no counties, but more included some division of Pulaski County.

The redistricting process was guided by the State Agencies Committees of the House and Senate, each of which was chaired by Republicans with payback on their minds.

This year is the first time in at least 140 years that Republicans control redistricting of both the state's congressional seats and of the Arkansas Legislature.

All of the state's current members of Congress and all of the state constitutional officers as well as strong majorities in the state House and Senate are Republicans now.

They're enjoying the spoils of political success and the Legislature is trying to make sure these are safe Republican congressional seats for a lot longer.

Clearly, the political leanings of voters in the different counties and specifically of Pulaski County, a Democratic voting stronghold in a state that is firmly in Republican hands, were a big consideration.

At this writing, Gov. Asa Hutchinson hasn't yet signed the legislation into law. He said last week that he'd make that decision this week after taking a closer look at demographic details of the proposed redistricting.

Hutchinson acknowledged some concern about diluting minority representation; but he knows, too, that the Legislature would likely override a veto.

So, we'll wait a day or two to see if he signs the legislation, vetoes it or lets it become law without his signature.

While a veto would set up an override battle with the Legislature, if the redistricting becomes law, that's when rumblings about a legal challenge could get real.

Upcoming Events