<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt">Thanks for the map, Tom. Here's an opinion from the Ridenbaugh Press:<br><br><h2 class="title"><a href="http://www.ridenbaugh.com/index.php/2011/09/24/id-redistrict-the-overtime-plan/" rel="bookmark">ID redistrict: The overtime plan</a></h2>
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<div>by <a href="http://www.ridenbaugh.com/index.php/author/stapilus/" title="Posts by Randy Stapilus" rel="author">Randy Stapilus</a> under <a href="http://www.ridenbaugh.com/index.php/category/idaho/" title="View all posts in Idaho" rel="category tag">Idaho</a>. </div>
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<div>The falls, formally, into the category of a
recommendation only – the same as if any other group of six Idahoans
proposed a statewide redistricting plan (as some have). </div>
<div>But because these six are the former redistricting commissioners,
this particular proposal – Final Compromise 2 (does that sound like a
bad movie name?) – could carry some weight. When the new districters get
together (the three Democrats are named, the Republicans not quite yet)
they could be tempted by the idea of just adopting this one and
cruising home, in a day or two, as opposed to some much longer
procedure.</div>
<div>It evidently has support from both parties; their chairs will hold a
joint press availability on Monday seemingly in support of it.</div>
<div>Partisan bottom line?</div>
<div>Democrats ought to be delirious about it. What they’re getting here
is much better than they have had any real right to expect. Central
Coeur d’Alene is intact, providing competition there. Moscow and
Lewiston still anchor districts and should remain competitive. Boise has
a rough equivalent to the current very-Democratic District 19 plus
three other competitive district – roughly the setup they have had. The
Blaine County-based district will continue with about the same setup as
before. The Pocatello area will have one Democratic-based district and
one other that should be competitive. That’s about what Democrats have
now, and considering that most of the last decade’s growth has been in
Republican areas, doing this well would have seemed improbable at the
start of the process.</div>
<div>Who will be unhappy? On a partisan level, it’s not as if Republicans
somehow gave away the store; the map does not put their huge majorities
at any risk. But a number of incumbents will be put at risk – at least
three pairs of Republican senators (<strong>Shawn Keough</strong> and <strong>Joyce Broadsword</strong> in the Panhandle, <strong>Patti Anne Lodge</strong> and <strong>John McGee</strong> in Canyon County, and <strong>Denton Darrington</strong> and <strong>Dean Cameron</strong>
in the Magic Valley) will be thrown into districts together, presumably
knocking out one in each case. And the people in the southeast corner
of the state, who’ve had a bum district boundary linking Teton County
through forested mountains south to Bear Lake and Franklin Counties,
will see that get worse: That district looks about the same, with Oneida
County tacked on in the southwest. </div>
<div>There are issues. But there’ll also be a strong temptation to just go
ahead and adopt a plan evidently accepted, at this point, by both
political parties. How often do you get that?</div><br></div></body></html>