06/22/11: Turn Norfolk elections into real contests

This op-ed appeared in The Virginian-Pilot on the date shown.

NEXT WEEK, the city of Norfolk will discuss and likely vote on a redistricting plan for our city.

Like that of the General Assembly, the Norfolk plan will have to be submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice for approval. City Attorney Bernard Pishko has said publicly that he believes all three of the plans under consideration for the city would meet with approval. The General Assembly plan was approved last week.

One of the problems with gerrymandering districts — whether it be based on party affiliation, as it is at the state level, or race, as it is at the local level — is the lack of competitiveness. Already we are seeing that in Virginia, where only 20 or so of the 100 House of Delegates seats are contested. Things are a bit better on the Senate side, where 15 of the 40 seats are contested. But many of these races will not be competitive, as independents or minority party challengers stand little chance in these districts.

At the state level, winning the nomination is often tantamount to winning the election. Witness the upcoming nomination contest in the 90th House district here in Hampton Roads: In that case, the incumbent Democrat, Algie Howell, faces challenger Rick James. At this time, there is no Republican candidate, and it is unlikely that there will be, as the district is heavily Democratic. Gov. Bob McDonnell received only 35 percent of the vote in the 90th.

Few localities in Virginia — and none in Hampton Roads — nominate by party for city council elections. In Norfolk, the presence of wards in which the majority population is either white or black determines who runs and wins. Since its inception in 1992, there have been few instances of a black candidate running in a predominantly white ward and vice versa.

Two of the redistricting plans under consideration do nothing to change this dynamic. The third plan creates a single swing ward — out of a possible 7 — that would make it possible for the winner to be either black or white. Of course the mayor, who is elected at large by all voters in Norfolk, could be of any race.

It is this lack of competitiveness that is most troublesome to me. It is why I’ve long advocated for the removal of the redistricting process from the hands of those who benefit from it: the politicians. Twelve states currently use nonpartisan or bipartisan redistricting commissions, and at least one study shows that the elections are more competitive. Sadly, Virginia is not one of them.

But that could change, starting in Norfolk. We need an independent redistricting commission in our fair city. That commission would be charged with determining which of the many available options for electing our City Council — wards, cumulative voting, instant run-off voting or whatever — is the best for our city.

That commission should be established now, not 10 years from now. Its work could be used for a mid-decade redistricting of our city, something the U.S. Supreme Court has said is permissible.

The rush to adopt redistricting plans in Virginia and locally is dictated by the election cycle. Thanks to a 2003 Texas redistricting case, we can adopt one plan now and another later, when we have more time to review the options.

How wonderful it would be if the Norfolk City Council voted next week not only to adopt the most competitive plan but also to establish an independent redistricting commission. How wonderful it would be if the voters were given the opportunity to pick our representatives rather than the other way around.