State lawmakers Tuesday set the playing field for the next decade of Rhode Island elections — including their own — by finalizing new General Assembly and congressional district maps.
The new maps, like the old ones, were drawn by the legislature’s long-time consultant, and observers of the once-a-decade redistricting warned that incumbent protection appeared to drive a lot of the decisions.
But House and Senate leaders said the six-month process involving 18 public meetings and maps posted online was historic in its transparency.
In the end, the new maps passed 58 to 8 in the House and 29 to 9 in the Senate. They now go to Gov. Dan McKee to sign into law.
Was it unconstitutional? Lawmakers made the redistricting commission follow the Open Meetings Act.
Congress
Surprising some political watchers, ruling Democrats didn’t make major map changes to protect the state’s Second Congressional District from a GOP takeover attempt, even after incumbent U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin announced he would not run for reelection.
In the last redistricting a decade ago, the Assembly shifted tens of thousands of Democratic voters from the second district into the first district, benefitting Rep. David Cicilline, who was facing his first reelection campaign.
The maps approved Tuesday do not move any municipalities into another district, but shift about 8,000 residents of Providence residents, which is shared by the two districts, back to District 2.
Rep. Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung, who is married to GOP congressional candidate Allan Fung, thanked House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi for not trying to tilt the playing field.
“I think a lesser person might have played some games and the fact that the bills came through as is says a lot about your leadership in Rhode Island, where we are used to games happening,” Fenton-Fung said.
Incumbent protection
Although some district boundaries changed a lot, the new maps did not put any incumbent General Assembly members in the same district, forcing them to run against each other.
But the maps did draw some would-be challengers out of their current districts, potentially protecting incumbents from a tough reelection battle.
Potential progressive primary challengers affected by the line changes include Kinverly Dicupe of Pawtucket, who was drawn out of the district held by Mary Messier, D-Pawtucket, into the district held by Rep. Brianna Henries, an East Providence Democrat and member of the Rhode Island Political Cooperative.
Earlier reporting:Latest RI political redistricting maps stir new controversies
Harrison Tuttle, the Black Lives Matter Political Action Committee executive director, was drawn out of the Senate district held by Sen. Josh Miller into one held by Sen. Kendra Anderson, a former Political Cooperative member. Tuttle hasn’t said whether he intends to run for the House or Senate.
Senate President Dominick Ruggerio’s district took on more of North Providence and gave up some territory in Providence where primary challenger Lenny Cioe did well in 2020. Cioe on Tuesday tweeted that the map is a gerrymander meant to protect Ruggerio.
Prison gerrymandering
For the first time, the new maps count some inmates of the Adult Correctional Institutions — those with sentences of two years or less — at their former addresses.
The change was made to prevent Cranston from receiving more political representation than it would normally have without hosting the ACI. Critics of “prison gerrymandering,” or counting prisoners as residents of prison, wanted all prisoners to be counted at their former addresses.
Political Scene:Much can be at stake when district lines shift
But Cranston elected officials objected to the change, arguing that they deserve to have inmates counted as Cranston residents because the city provides police and fire services to the prison complex.
Fenton-Fung, a Cranston Republican, said she was voting against the new maps because the city may sue to stop the prison gerrymandering change.
Smithfield and Lincoln
The biggest disagreement between Democrats and Republicans was over a map change that pushed a Smithfield Senate district into a small slice of Lincoln.
The district in question is represented by Sen. Stephen Archambault, D-Smithfield, a co-chair of the commission overseeing the redistricting process and owner of property bisected by the old boundary that traced the Smithfield-Lincoln line.
Sen. Thomas Paolino, a Lincoln Republican, objected to the move, which shifted more than 600 residents out of his district, making it one of the smaller districts while making Archambault’s one of the larger ones.
“There is simply no reason to do this,” Paolino said.
Consultant Kimball Brace said residents of Lincoln had asked to be moved to Archambault’s district, although no one testified at public meetings about it and the commission received nothing in writing.
Archambault said a piece of Lincoln is being moved into his district because it is a “community of interest” where residents drive through Lincoln to get home to Smithfield.
Responding to speculation about his future plans, Archambault had earlier told the Senate Judiciary Committee he is not going to build a house on the Lincoln side of his property, which he said is wetlands anyway.
District committees
A dispute broke out over language dealing with the obscure committees that make General Assembly endorsements in party primaries.
Following decades of custom, the redistricting bill would allow state party chairs to appoint members of the district committees as they see fit, potentially ousting members that were elected in the 2020 election.
The provision is meant to deal with committee members who no longer live in the newly drawn districts, but progressive lawmakers decried it as a tool for the state party to control the endorsement process.
“There is no need to replace them,” Rep, Edie Ajello, D-Providence, said in objection to the section allowing the replacement of district committees. “[The section] takes away the will of the voters.”
State Democratic Party executive director Kate Coyne McCoy earlier told the Journal the party does not intend to overhaul district committees.
In the House, the district committee section was voted on separately.
Progressive senators tried to amend the district committee section, to no avail.
North Smithfield Republican Rep. Brian Newberry said there needed to be some way to replace committee members who no longer live in their district and holding special elections in every community for the obscure positions would not make sense.
