Mass firings at the capital
If the Senate election committee has it's way just under two thirds of all legislators will be out of a job in 2012 as they approved a bill that would reduce us to 45 Senate Districts.
This would make each race much more important, and less voices would tend to mean a smoother process at the capital. As for the Independence Party this would probably be good as the power of a handful of representatives will be slightly higher, and it will be much easier to get candidates in most races forcing a higher portion of the state to take a look at a decent 3rd option. I'll be eager to see who kills this bill.
posted by mike @ 2:09 PM
2 Comments:
Reducing the size of the Legislature will make it even harder for the IP to win seats. Currently, each senator represents about 77,000 people and each House member has about 38,500 constituents.
Under the reduction plan, senators would end up representing upward of 120,000 people and House members would have about 60,000 constituents.
Obviously the districts would be larger geographically and thus harder to campaign in -- forcing candidates to rely more on paid media and the money required to get it.
With a new reliance on paid media, candidates would opt out of the public matching funds program and we'd be just like anywhere else...
True but it also expands the coverage of a good candidate that is willing to run from a third party. Right now the party needs to be able to build that credibility from the bottom to match the credibility the voters are willing to give us at the top of the ticket.
Of course this law won't go into place until 2012 if it actually does get passed, so must of what I say is based on the current situation and a lot of that can change.
Post a Comment
<< Home