With Virginia’s black population at 20 percent and Rep. Bobby Scott still the state’s only black congressman, there is a push on in the Old Dominion to increase black political clout. The rub, though, is how to do it.
The General Assembly returned to Richmond Thursday to redraw the state’s 11 congressional districts as part of the once-a-decade redistricting process. But with the Republican-controlled House and Democratic-run Senate at loggerheads over the question of black representation, lawmakers turned over the task of completing the new map to a small group of negotiators.
| Current Congressional map |
| 1 black-majority district (3rd) |
| Black population, 3rd District: 56.2 percent |
| Black population, 4th District: 34.4 percent |
| House plan |
| 1 black-majority district (3rd) |
| Black population, 3rd District: 59.5 percent |
| Black population, 4th District: 32.4 percent |
| Senate plan |
| 1 black-majority district (4th) |
| Black population, 3rd District: 45 percent |
| Black population, 4th District: 53 percent |
| ACLU plan |
| 1 black-majority, 1 black-influence (3rd and 4th) |
| Black population, 3rd District: 52.9 percent |
| Black population, 4th District: 52.4 percent |
| Source: Division of Legislative Services |
House Republicans proposed a plan that would largely protect the state’s incumbent congressmen, contending that it reflects the will of the voters during the 2010 midterm elections. That plan would preserve Scott’s meandering Hampton Roads area district as the state’s sole black-majority seat.
Senate Democrats counter, however, that the because the House plan increases the black population in Scott’s district from 56 percent to more than 59 percent, it dilutes the black vote elsewhere in the state — a potential violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 with which Virginia must comply.
Democrats are pushing their own plan that would reduce the black population in Scott’s district below 50 percent and make Republican Rep. Randy Forbes’ southeastern district a black-majority seat. Lawmakers said the change would allow for greater minority representation.
“If the opportunity exists where we could have fair representation in the 11-member congressional delegation, where African-Americans and other minorities have the opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice, why wouldn’t we take the opportunity to do so?” said Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, sponsor of the Senate plan.
Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union is circulating a plan that would create two black-majority districts — but at a price. The second minority district would still be based in Forbes’ district, but would stretch across the state’s vast southern border from Norfolk to Danville.
“What we wanted to do was to have legislators look seriously at having two African-American majority districts,” said ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Kent Willis.
Also at issue is competitiveness. Scott hasn’t faced a challenger in four of the last six elections, and took about 70 percent of the vote in the other two.
“What are these black voters going to protect him from?” said David Bositis, of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. “For that matter, just for … democracy, you want a district where a candidate is unopposed?”
