McCollum takes aim at DFL Party over redistricting plans

Posted at 5:10 PM on November 18, 2011 by Tom Scheck (6 Comments)
Filed under: Campaign 2012, Redistricting

MPR News is still trying to access the DFL Party's proposed redistricting plans - but one of the state's Congressional members is not pleased with the map. DFL Rep. Betty McCollum's chief of staff Bill Harper issued a statement blasting DFL Party Chair Ken Martin and the members of the DFL Party's legal team.

"The DFL Chair and his high paid lawyers have proposed a congressional map to the redistricting panel that is hyper-partisan and bizarre. Their plan ignores the judge's redistricting criteria and it insults established communities of interest, particularly in the East Metro. Congresswoman McCollum has faith in the judges on the panel to draw fair political boundaries that will serve the best interests of all Minnesotans."

MPR News could not reach Harper to comment on why he's upset with the DFL map. A call to McCollum's spokeswoman has also not been returned.

One factor could be that McCollum would end up in the same district as GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann if the DFL map is approved by the court. The DFL map pairs McCollum and Bachmann.

MPR News viewed one proposed map by DFLers that paired the two together. A person with knowledge of that map said that the DFL map would submit that proposed map to the courts.

Will be updated...

Here's the proposed map:

Martin Intervenors Congressional Map_Minnesota-2

Comments (6)

What?? The East Side in Bachmann's district? No way! Our neighborhood is already getting ripped to shreds by the economy. I shudder to think what her "solution" would be. Give 'em hell Betty.

Posted by Ann Millikan | November 18, 2011 6:12 PM

Ann,
Betty still has all of St. Paul, but she also has the home of our 'homegrown' via Iowa presidential candidate. What an opportunity to get her out, go Betty!

Posted by lindsey | November 18, 2011 7:54 PM

Wow, what a cry baby.

You wouldn't think a district with a 61% ave Democratic vote would be so bad for a DFL incumbent, but I guess this just shows that Betty doesn't know how to be a team player.

Posted by TonyAngelo | November 20, 2011 2:38 PM

I don't know....pairing the only two women members of congress? Could it be we are back in the 60s?

Posted by Judy Lee Berglund | November 21, 2011 9:44 AM

Pairing the only two women members of congress? Could it be we are back in the 60s?

Posted by Judy Berglund | November 21, 2011 9:45 AM

"Bizarre" might be a bit strong (Ramsey and Washington Counties used to be the old 4th District boundaries back in the 1960s) but "hyper-partisan" is accurate. It's coming from a political party. By definition it's going to be partisan.

The DFL has obviously given up on beating John Kline, seeing as how they're moving Rice County (with the Carleton and St. Olaf's College votes) into Walz's District, and letting Kline have the arch-conservative western Hennepin County exurbs. The trade-off is that Walz gets to breathe a little easier and Erik Paulsen has to run in the inner-ring suburbs of Hennepin and Dakota Counties (and possibly even a little bit of Southwest Minneapolis, if I'm reading their map right. I'm sure the DFL leadership will be hearing from their neighbors about that one, seeing as how they all seem to live there.)

It's also interesting how they're apparently willing to give Chip Cravaack a safe seat in the new 6th District in exchange for an open 8th District that includes the Iron Range.

Posted by Chris | November 21, 2011 1:21 PM

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