GOP lags in early redistricting race
Share with others:
Outmaneuvered by the GOP during the last round of redistricting a decade ago, Democrats appear to have an early advantage as the two parties gear up again for the expensive and high-stakes battle over redrawing state legislative and congressional districts.
"I do believe that the Democrats are much better organized at this stage," said Ben Ginsberg, a top Republican election lawyer.
Applying the lessons gleaned after the 2000 census, Democrats have moved more quickly to adapt to new rules on the types of fundraising available to finance redistricting efforts. They have also built a network of groups, with the blessing of the Obama White House and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, that appear to be better positioned for the complex task that will begin next year in state capitals and courtrooms across the country after the 2010 census is complete.
Republicans, meanwhile, have struggled in response to the new fundraising environment, with groups jockeying for money and big-name backers, and GOP insiders grumbling that areas critical to an effective redistricting effort are not being adequately addressed.
The problems were epitomized by the American Majority Project, a nonprofit group that Ginsberg helped launch and which drew admiring coverage of its projected multimillion dollar budget and backing from Republican heavyweights, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
But Bush bristled at having his name associated with the effort, and the group struggled to raise cash. Four months after its creation, it merged with a competing organization run by veteran GOP operative Ed Gillespie, one of at least four conservative groups raising money for redistricting-related efforts independent from the GOP's national party apparatus.
"They're all competing for the same dollar out there that is going to go to redistricting," said Georgia Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, who is leading an effort by the National Republican Congressional Committee to coordinate the work of GOP redistricting groups. It's important for the GOP side to coordinate closely, Westmoreland said, calling redistricting "the most brass-knuckle thing that there is in politics."
The once-a-decade redrawing of state and congressional legislative district boundaries to adjust for population trends has traditionally been an expensive pursuit for partisans seeking to boost their party's chances of winning extra seats.
First Published June 5, 2010 12:00 am
