Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Gerrymandered?

Democrats say a rising star was taken out by GOP mapmaking.

Nicholas Deshais
Washington state Rep. John Ahern
Washington state Rep. John Ahern
Washington state Rep. John Ahern

Marcus Riccelli's isn’t a name you’d recognize. But as a longtime Democratic Party functionary, he has worked behind the scenes as a policy advisor and campaign manager for people whose names you would recognize: U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, former state Sen. Chris Marr, congressional candidate Don Barbieri.

And Riccelli’s plan this year was to finally make a name for himself by running against state Rep. John Ahern, a Republican, in the 6th Legislative District. Emphasis on “was.”

When the state’s redistricting commission unveiled the new borders for the 6th, Riccelli saw that a fingerling had reached up, absorbed his house and taken him out of the 6th, the district he grew up in.

“The redistricting commission is supposed to draw lines and borders that make sense. What happened doesn’t make sense,” says Riccelli, who is currently the senior policy advisor for Washington state Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown. “I feel like there was an effort to move me into the 3rd District. A strategic effort. … The motivation for that is unclear.”

For the past couple of months, Riccelli had been floating his name in Democratic circles, and among community leaders, for his potential run in the 6th. (Democrats — including Riccelli’s boss Sen. Brown — hold all seats in the 3rd, which is why he won’t run there.)

Matthew Pederson, the chair of the Spokane County Republican Party, says he’d heard Riccelli’s name as a potential opponent to Ahern, but that was about it. He dismisses the idea that Riccelli was intentionally taken out of the district.

“The district lines were draw by a bipartisan team. Two Democrats, two Republicans,” Pederson says. “To say that someone’s been districted out who is not a seated legislator is a bit of a stretch.”

Ahern agrees.

The new boundaries of Washington's 3rd Legislative District are shown in green. The old boundaries are shown in red. The marker indicates the approximate location of Marcus Riccelli's house, which had been in the 6th District before the redistricting.

“This was bipartisan. But not everybody’s going to be happy,” he says. “We lost Wandermere, Whitworth, a couple of good parts of our district. But we gained Medical Lake, Cheney and Fairchild.”

Dean Foster was one of the two people appointed to the redistricting commission by Democrats. He says politics do sometimes influence how political borders are drawn, but not this time.

“I can’t confirm that or deny that,” he says, adding that he had no maps in front of him to refer to. “That does happen, but I can’t help you. It just sort of evolves that way. … There might be candidates all over the place that were in one district and are now in another.”

Sharon Smith, who is heavily involved in the Democratic Party locally and statewide, says she thinks there was “some intention to bring [Riccelli] into the 3rd” District, which lies north of the 6th and covers much of Spokane.

“There were a million other ways you could have gotten other voters into the district,” she says. “And I don’t know anybody else that was going to run in the district” against Ahern.

Smith says she still has hope that Riccelli will figure out a way to take Ahern on, but for now Riccelli’s focused on the legislative session.

“The 6th District deserves better than John Ahern,” he says. “If it’s my time to run … I won’t let a simple line sway me.”

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Why does this article include a huge picture of Ahern´s face when it should include a huge picture of the new gerrymandered district maps? The map speaks for itself. This article mentions nothing about "natural borders" such as Francis serving as the northern border for the 3rd LD.

There are what, around 30-50 precincts that could have been expanded to and included in the 3rd. Funny how two of them just happen to reach up and grab Marcus´s house out of the 6th.

A very convenient "coincidence" indeed.

Thankfully Marcus´s sense of duty to his community far outweighs petty partisan maneuvering. I hope he runs sooner rather than later. The legislature needs him NOW. Jan 12, 2012 | Reply to this comment

 

Republican Chair Pederson "dismisses the idea that Riccelli was intentionally taken out of the district." ..... really, and we´re to lap this swill up like it´s Koolaid?
Republican motives are dishonest, unseemly and clear.......but this is news to no one.
If I were giving advice to Mr. Riccelli, I say rent a little "walk-up" in the 6th.....it worked for Baumgartner. Jan 12, 2012 | Reply to this comment

 

I am amazed at Mr. Riccelli´s arrogance. Should the redistricting commission take into consideration every potential candidate´s wish to run for office sometime in future? No. The commission already had enough trouble agreeing on the new (and already controversial) maps.

I certainly hope that Mr. Riccelli is humble enough to recognize that his location should not be their top priority, especially if he does plan to run. In my experience, citizens do not appreciate cocky candidates.

I´m sure there are numerous other people who want to run for office now finding themselves in neighboring districts. Do you hear anyone else complaining this loudly? No.

I also "grew up" in the 6th district and the new boundaries put me in the 7th. I don´t agree with the commission´s decision to put a large, clearly suburban area of Spokane into a heavily rural district but I, along with Mr. Riccelli, have to live with the new boundaries. Jan 12, 2012 | Reply to this comment

 

I am amazed at Mr. Riccelli´s arrogance. Should the redistricting commission take into consideration every potential candidate´s wish to run for office sometime in future? No. The commission already had enough trouble agreeing on the new (and already controversial) maps.

I certainly hope that Mr. Riccelli is humble enough to recognize that his location should not be their top priority, especially if he does plan to run. In my experience, citizens do not appreciate cocky candidates.

I´m sure there are numerous other people who want to run for office now finding themselves in neighboring districts. Do you hear anyone else complaining this loudly? No.

I also "grew up" in the 6th district and the new boundaries put me in the 7th. I don´t agree with the commission´s decision to put a large, clearly suburban area of Spokane into a heavily rural district but I, along with Mr. Riccelli, have to live with the new boundaries. Jan 12, 2012 | Reply to this comment

 

I don´t think Mr. Riccelli understands the depths of the conspiracy which is devoting its time and resources to thwarting his meteoric rise. I have it on good authority that a rogue group of Freemasons meets at a prehistoric, archaelogical site under the light of every full moon. The members are some of the wealthiest, most powerful men in the world, or at least in Spokane Valley. After the requisite chanting and arcane rituals, they spend hours dressed in hooded robes discussing how they can thwart him. According to web sites accessible only to Those In the Know, this group has a working relationship with remnants of the Third Reich and the Illuminati, and their reach is intergalactic and interdimensional. Bah Ha Ha! (That´s evil laughter.) Jan 12, 2012 | Reply to this comment

 

 
 
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