During the last election in Virginia, fewer than eight percent of eligible voters showed up to cast a ballot, perhaps because only 18 districts had contested primaries. In most places, lawmakers ran unopposed. Critics say that’s because the legislature drew boundaries to ensure that incumbents could keep their seats, so citizens figure there’s no point in voting. Now, however, there are signs that situation could change.
Angela Lynn is a former teacher and FEMA employee.
“I’m Angela Lynn, and I’m running for the House of Delegates.”
She believes in her country’s electoral system, but during the last election, she concluded that system was no longer working.
“There wasn’t anyone challenging the incumbent, and if you don’t have any power to say I like what’s going on, I don’t like what’s going on, then we don’t have a real democracy anymore.”
Her opponent is Steve Landes, a Republican who’s been in office for 19 years. He helped draw the boundaries for his 25th district, which includes parts of Albemarle, Augusta and Rockingham Counties. Fifty-two percent of its voters are Republican, while only 36% are Democrats.
In the last legislative session, Virginia’s Senate approved several bills that would have taken the power to redistrict away from politicians, giving it - instead -- to an independent commission. Delegate Landes argued successfully against that idea in the House.
“In the federal constitution it’s pretty clear that that responsibility is supposed to be in the state legislatures. There’s no need to have a legislature if you start giving those responsibilities to an unelected group.”
But Gregory Lucyk says the founding fathers couldn’t foresee how the country would evolve, and change is in order.
“The Founding Fathers also denied the vote to women, and a lot of them I think owned people as property.”
Lucyk served as chief staff attorney for Virginia’s Supreme Court for more than a decade. Now in retirement, he’s president of One Virginia 2021-a group promoting reform of the redistricting process. He’s encouraged because federal judges have twice found fault with the way Virginia’s legislature drew Congressional boundaries and recently ordered them to try again. Lucyk says things have changed since the last go around.
“In 2012, Bob McDonnell, a Republican, was the governor, so Republicans had full control of all of the districting machinery, but now they’ve got to deal with a Democrat in the executive mansion, and if he vetoes the plan, then September first the federal court will draw the plan.”
Republicans may appeal the decision, delaying any changes for a period of months, and the ruling only involves Congressional districts, but another case is pending - based on similar arguments - and it could lead to new legislative boundaries.
Lucyk’s group is working to amend the state’s constitution - to promote non-partisan redistricting by 2021. It has the backing of many prominent people.
“Former legislators, former governors, leaders in the business community, all of whom have recognized that Virginia government is hurting badly from this absurd process of self-protection in drawing legislative districts. We need to let the people choose their representatives. Not the other way around.”
In the mean time, Angela Lynn says she’ll keep knocking on doors - aiming to visit 5,000 homes before Election Day, hoping to motivate her supporters to show up.
“It is all about turn out.”
And One Virginia 2021 believes two races in our recent primary represented a win for independent redistricting. The organization stood behind Republican Senator Emmett Hanger and would-be Delegate and Democrat Steve Heretick, two supporters of reform. Both were victorious.
