Gongwer News Service Editor Zach Gorchow says Democrats and their allies are likely to seek a ballot proposal in 2016 to create an independent commission to draw boundaries for Congressional and state Legislative districts.
Gorchow recently blogged about a possible ballot question over redistricting. He says that would be an epic and expensive campaign. Gorchow says Republicans and business interests would spend big to defeat any plan to change the system. He says this isn't going to be something that "Democrats can win on the cheap."
"Redistricting is a not a silver bullet."
Critics of the current system where the Legislature draws new maps after every census, sayit's too partisan and driven by politics. But Gorchow says "redistricting is a not a silver bullet." He says there are other factors, such as quality of candidates and the state and national mood of the electorate. Gorchow says the way maps are drawn takes some races off the board making them safe for one party or the other. However Gorchow says in the last election Democrats lost seats in state House and Senate districts where the maps were drawn favorably. He says that includes the state House district which includes Battle Creek and Kalamazoo County's state Senate district.
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If Democrats and their allies want to pursue a ballot question, they face some political hurdles. Gorchow says any effort led by unions or other groups affiliated with the Democratic Party will be easier to for the opposition to organize a campaign against it. "It's always easier to get 'no' votes than 'yes votes" Gorchow says when it comes to a ballot proposal.