Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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July 19, 2011

Local house delegates split along party lines on districts

By BILL ARCHER Bluefield Daily Telegraph

BLUEFIELD — The city of Bluefield became a single-delegate district after the 1990 census, but had to include a portion of Bramwell to meet the minimum 18,300-18,500 population it needed after the 2000 census.

Although the 25th District lost more population according to the 2010 census, State Delegate Marty Gearheart, R-Mercer, wants the district to remain a single entity, and has submitted a proposal to the House of Delegates Select Redistricting Committee that would split Mercer County’s other district, the two-member 24th district, into a pair of districts and tack part of Mercer County’s population in with a Summers County district.

“That’s the plan I will present to the redistricting committee on Aug. 1,” Gearheart said. “I lobbied with the Minority Leader and the Speaker of the House to get a position on the committee, but I was not successful. I thought I had the right credentials and with the past campaign I had, I’ve traveled throughout the state more than most, but I wasn’t placed on the committee.”

Gearheart wants single-delegate districts. “I have tremendous respect for State Delegate John R. Frazier, D-Mercer, and we have opposing positions on this issue,” he said. “I’ve tried to change his mind, but I have come to the understanding that we are not going to agree. It’s going to take something very special for me to vote for multi-delegate districts.”

The Select Redistricting Committee is made up of 30 delegates — 20 Democrats and 10 Republicans. Frazier and State Delegate Clif Moore, D-McDowell, are both on the committee.

“Since I was elected, I have been promoting putting Mercer County together as one district with three representatives,” Frazier said. “We have the population for a multi-delegate district and we have a common educational system. Three people working together for one cause is important.”

Frazier said that Mercer County has a common transportation system that provides access to every part of the county. “We’re all compact,” Frazier said. “We have common interests. We tend to be moderate, conservatives and pro-business.” Frazier said he is absolutely in favor of multi-delegate districts. “I’m on the committee and this will be my recommendation.”

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin called a special session to start on Aug. 1. Frazier said that the committee will present its plan to the House and the matter will progress from there.

“I am a member of the select committee and since I was placed on that committee, only one person has contacted me about redistricting,” Moore said. “The people who I talk to are more concerned about jobs, receiving their Social Security checks, their health insurance and the growing budget deficit.”

Moore said that he supports the size and shape of the district that best suits a specific geographical area. “I don’t believe a cookie-cutter approach is the way to go. You’re not going to be able to break up the state into 100 single-member districts.”

Moore said that delegates throughout southern West Virginia work well together — even across party lines. “I’m not so sure it’s Republicans who are pushing the single-member district plan,” Moore said. “No matter what the committee comes up with, it will have to be done in the absence of partisan, party politics.

“We, the delegates of southern West Virginia, work well together across party lines,” Moore said. “We’re not in competition. We work together for the people we serve.”

State Delegate Joe Ellington, R-Mercer, said he is currently in a two-member district, and it would likely be beneficial to his re-election to keep it that way, but he supports the single-member district plan.

“The GOP has been looking at that plan, but that’s not why I support it,” Ellington said. “I think single-member districts put the representative closer to the community he or she represents. I think it would be fair for the state to go to 100, single-member districts.

“There are pros and cons on both sides of the issue,” Ellington continued. “One thing I’ll be disappointed in if it happens is if the committee doesn’t put a single-member district option on the table. The downside of all of this is that we’re setting the stage for the next 20 years.”

— Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com

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