Vol. 36, No. 4 www.arlingtondemocrats.org April 2011 April is the month to slice and dice Virginia’s voting districts The General Assembly comes back into ses- House Privileges and Elections Committee this year Summer sion April 4 to take up the task of divying up the made that 1 percent for House of Delegates districts. state into 11 U.S. House of Representatives districts, But Chairman Mark Cole (R-Fredericksburg) ac- be 40 State Senate districts and 100 House of Delegates knowledged there was a downside in that you lose could districts. flexibility and have a harder time keeping commu- Many voters are complaining bitterly that the nities of interest together. And an independent com- a real big process in Virginia allows the state legislature to mission drafting maps has advocated a larger rather draw boundaries with little public input. The com- than a smaller deviation than in the past. (Five per- campaign plaint is classicly stated that voters should choose cent satisfies the courts.) their elected officials, but instead elected officials 4—The political interests of office holders call season choose their voters. for drawing lines that gather in as many of their Altogether, there are at least five drivers influ- supporters as possible and push out as many of the encing district boundaries—although not equally in- opposition as possible. That produces districts with Check out our very fluencing the outcome. shapes only a contortionist could love. Ten years preliminary 1—The state constitution says districts should ago, then-Rep. Tom Davis in neighboring Fairfax be “contiguous and compact” and “give, as nearly County took as many Democratic areas as he could primary ballot on as is practicable, representation in proportion to the and shoved them into Rep. Jim Moran’s district. Page population of the district.” That produced a weirdly-shaped Moran district with Six 2—Federal law says states must take into con- a skinny neck running from Arlington out to Reston. sideration minority interests. That mandate means In the end, however, the law of uinintended conse- that some districts meander to group minority resi- quences dominated as the new map benefitted dential areas, ignoring county and city boundaries Moran but did no good for Davis, as migration Maybe you and ending up far from compact. brought so many more Democrats into Davis’ dis- 3—The Supreme Court said decades ago that trict that he gave up and retired. wanna rural-run state legislatures had to stop protecting 5—Academics and many politicians (albeit declining farm country by drawing 10,000-resi- chiefly retired ones) have long become a dent rural districts and 50,000-resident urban urged that districts be drawn so districts. That has produced a drive in some as to be more competitive. candidate??? states for mathematical precision—and They argue that good gov- that means not only slicing and dic- ernment more often re- ing towns, but sometimes even sults from serious splitting precincts. In 2001, Vir- competition in ginia operated under guide- continued on lines that allowed a 2 per- page eight cent deviation from mathematically equal districts. The ACDC Voice, April 2011, Page 2 Report from Chairman Mike Lieberman Time for spring training Politics is a lot like baseball – if you work and identify new Democrats now, that pro- Day. This is bread and butter politics, and, hard in the spring and summer, you set your- vides an expanded and ready source of po- put simply, if we can identify more Demo- self up for a strong run in October and No- tential volunteers and donors we can call dur- cratic voters now, that is even more people vember. Here in Arlington, the sun is out and ing the heat of the campaign season, with a we will know to remind to vote at election the flowers are blooming, which can only significantly higher chance of success. time. mean one thing – it’s time for spring training. Second, identifying Democrats now I want to thank each and every one of For the last two years, our spring season helps us target our message and outreach bet- you who helped make this voter identifica- in Arlington has been focused on a new, but ter during the campaign. If we know a per- tion program a success last year, and those critical voter identification drive. We have son is a Democrat, we can be sure to send who have already stepped up again to partici- asked each one of our precinct captains and them campaign literature that is more likely pate this year. While November may seem a volunteers to identify two dates between April to appeal to Democratic audiences. On the long way off, the work we do in this spring 1 and July 1 to host and manage a voter can- other side of the coin, we can save money by season is truly what sets us up for success vass or phone bank aimed at reaching out to not having to mail to strong Republicans who when the playoffs come in the fall. unidentified voters. Last year, in its inaugu- are not likely to vote with us regardless of the I hope you will find the time during this ral year, this spring voter identification drive candidates we offer. spring season to dust off your spikes, stretch yielded more than 1,000 new IDs; this year, Finally, identifying Democrats now lets your legs, and help in this vital and critical we are aiming even higher. us know who we need to work to turn out on part of what we do. I can assure you that when In this column, I want to take a moment Election Day. In the final days of any cam- the fall comes, you will be happy that you to remind you why this project, and your ef- paign, the focus of our campaign will shift did. forts, are so important. from converting swing voters to turning out First, known Democrats provide our best base voters. Each year, we do our best to call source of potential volunteers and potential or otherwise reach every known Democrat in donors for the fall campaign. If we reach out Arlington to remind them to vote on Election Democratic Values in Action Cereal, towels are collectors’ items Jerry Botland Democratic Values in Action (DVA), the non-campaign arm of ACDC, is continuing Computer Consulting to collect cereal for the Arlington Food As- Troubleshoot and resolve computer and sistance Center (AFAC). computer related problems. DVA is also collecting gently used bath towels, hand towels and washcloths for the Perform upgrades, set-up wireless routers and print servers. county’s homeless shelters. Bring them to the Transfer old files, address book and emails April meeting. from an old computer to a new one. Phone: (703) 933-0558 — [email protected] Tejada to munch at First Sat Breakfast County Board Member Walter Tejada will be the featured guest at this month’s Ar- Published monthly by the lington Democrats First Saturday Breakfast Arlington County Democratic Committee April 2. 2009 North 14th Street, Suite #612, Arlington, VA 22201 Meet as usual at the Bus Boys and Poets Tel: (703) 528-8588 Fax: (703) 528-2321 in Shirlington between 8:30 and 10 a.m. http://www.arlingtondemocrats.org Walter’s County Board term is up this Chair: Mike Lieberman —(703) 408-3940 (h), [email protected] year and he will be running for re-election— Editor-in-Chief: Warren L. Nelson —(703) 243-7867 (h), [email protected] or maybe for the General Assembly! Deputy Editor: Vacant Remember to please bring cash. The or- Views expressed do not necessarily represent those of the ACDC ganizers get one bill and it is so easy if every- unless expressly approved by an appropriate Committee Resolution one chips in cash instead of working a stack Copyright ©2011, ACDC, All Rights Reserved of credit cards. ACDC Voice, April 2011, Page 3 Dems start Next Monthly Meeting year with All Dems Invited Wednesday, April 6, 2011, 7:00 p.m. NRECA Building, 4301 Wilson Blvd more bucks Corner of North Taylor and Wilson, just east of Glebe & Wilson Free parking under building, enter from Taylor Street By Bob Lewis The Associated Press This month, we tackle the issue of faith in politics, and will With elections this fall that will deter- discuss how we can best engage and work with the faith mine control of Virginia’s 40-member Sen- community. Before the meeting, at 6 p.m., The Roosevelt ate, Democrats had more fundraising cash on Society is hosting a reception for Roosevelt Society mem- hand at the start of 2011 than Republicans, bers featuring Democratic National Committee leader Larry but Gov. Bob McDonnell is showing he can Roberts. Come for the reception, stay for the meeting! open donors’ deep pockets for the GOP. In the Senate, Democrats have nearly $1 million more on hand than the nearly $2 mil- lion Republicans have, according to campaign finance reports filed with the State Board of really like to see an increased number of Re- paign finance data compiled by the Virginia Elections. Senate Majority Leader Dick publicans in the Virginia Senate.” Public Access Project, a nonprofit and nonpar- Saslaw alone has $820,000, by far the most The fight over the Senate is the focal tisan tracker of money in Virginia politics. of any legislative candidate. point of the fall elections because Democrats In the past year, McDonnell’s most gen- Despite the larger cash reserves for the hold a 22-18 majority. erous givers have been: the finance and in- Senate’s Democrats, McDonnell gives the If the Democrats lose two seats to the surance industry, nearly $674,000; real estate GOP something it’s lacked since 2001—the GOP, a 20-20 partisan deadlock would be cre- and construction companies, about $580,000; powerful fundraising advantage of the ated, with Republican Lt.