Congressional Redistricting...What the Legislature Will Choose From

Four plans came out of committee on redistricting Utah.  None of them are similar to my plan from back in December where my bright idea was to put Davis and Weber Counties into separate districts to help protect Hill Air Force Base.

None of the plans keep Salt Lake County whole.  All of the plans build the new districts around the current delegation.  Congressman Bishop lives in Brigham City, so every plan has the Box Elder County in the First District.  Congressman Matheson lives in Salt Lake City.  Northeast Salt Lake County is always in the Second district.  Congressman Chaffetz lives in Alpine.  The Third District always includes northeast Utah County.  All of them seem to put Carl Wimmer, the Tea Party favorite, in the 4th district.

Source: Provo Daily Herald and the Utah Legislature.

My comments on each plan...

Plan A

Out of the four plans, this is my favorite because it appears to balance the population between the four districts...even though that is not a constitutional requirement.  It splits the national parks between the 2nd and 3rd districts.    The new district is Southern Salt Lake County.  The First District will continue to be a strong Republican district.  The Third District has the strong Democratic base in Summit, Grand and Carbon counties against Utah County...meaning that if the GOP messes up there, it would be possible for a Democrat to win.  Jim Matheson will likely be able to keep his job representing the second district, but could be replaced by a Republican when he leaves office.  The new 4th district would also be a strong GOP district.  All four districts would have growth areas.  What I like about it is that there is districts, mostly, are culturally matched.

Plan G

This is my least favorite because it not only splits Salt Lake County into three, but splits the populated part of Utah County from the new growth part of the county.  It guarantees a Democrat in the Second District and a Republican in the other three districts.  It is population balanced, but not growth balanced.  There are very little new growth areas in the established part of Salt Lake County, the part that would be the second district.  It emphasizes the differences between the parties in Utah.  This is what is called the donut plan.  The second and third district are the donut hole.

Plan I

It is workable, but I really don't like the idea of separating Rich County from Cache County nor do I like the idea of separating Morgan County from Weber County.  This separates the rural from suburban in Northern Utah in a bad way.  This plan also separates Park City...mostly Democratic from the rest of Summit County.  Although the Democratic Stronghold of Northern Salt Lake County remains in tact.  But on the other hand, there are enough Democrats in Park City, Carbon and Grand Counties to keep the Republicans in Utah County in check.

Plan J

This plan is the second best plan, in my opinion.  It is better than plan I because it keeps Rich County with Cache County and does not divide any county other than Salt Lake County.  It almost guarantees a Democrat will represent the Second District, but a hard working moderate Republican could win.  Like some of the other plans, it help keep a Utah County congressman honest by putting some Democratic-leaning counties in the district.  I would rather see Morgan and Weber Counties together.  But otherwise, this plan looks almost natural.  You could probably fix this by taking Morgan County out of the Second District and giving them northern Summit County, giving the 4th District Garfield and Kane Counties and giving the 2nd District West Davis County (Clearfield, Syracuse, Clinton and West Point).  But giving the 2nd District Morgan County makes for a nicer map.


The plan the Tea Party did not get.

If the GOP in Utah really wanted to screw the Democrats out of seat, the districts would have been divided like this:

This is the plan that would have ensured that all four Utah Congressional districts would be solid Republican.

This plan would have protected the one Democratic Seat in Utah...

The main difference between this plan and the plan I had in mind is that Salt Lake County is split north and south.  My plan was to split Salt Lake County East and West.  Salt Lake County becomes more Democratic as you move to the north.

Which plan do you like best?  Please leave a comment.