By Chip Scutari
The Arizona Republic
May 31, 2002 12:00:00
http://www.arizonarepublic.com/special12/articles/0531redistrict31.html
Say the word "redistricting" and most Arizonans roll their eyes or
get a perplexed look on their face.
They say it's dull, insignificant and unimportant.
But the newly drawn lines on Arizona's political map will affect every major issue in the state. The 30-piece map will probably keep the Republicans in power in the House and boost their influence in the Senate, letting the GOP dictate public policy on health care, tax cuts and state employee pay raises.
Joan Larkin isn't a politician, but she understands the repercussions of Arizona's new political turf.
"I'm probably one of the few people who have actually read a story about redistricting," said Larkin, a biology professor who moved from Boston 10 months ago. "To me, politics is all about raw numbers. I think we'll see more charter schools and tax cuts. I can't say I'm crazy about that."
Larkin is talking from a McDonald's at Seventh Street and McDowell Road, in one of four key areas that were redrawn to preserve Hispanic voting strength.
Some educators are worried that a Republican majority may leave minorities behind. Arizona's new map shows Republicans with a solid voter registration edge in 18 of 30 districts.
"What I've seen from Republican leadership is that they go to cut education funding first," said Sara Marcum, principal at the Pastor Elementary School in south Phoenix. "That makes it even tougher for disadvantaged students to succeed."
Sen. Ken Bennett of Prescott, who wants to be next president of the Senate, said the stereotype of "insensitive Republicans" is inaccurate.
"Republicans can be, and are, just as sensitive to the needs that people have," Bennett said. "We just want to be more efficient."
Pundits call politics a numbers game, and that's what redistricting comes down to: strength in numbers.
"Redistricting will turn out to be more powerful than the House speaker, the Senate president or the governor with the impact it will have next year," said Jason Rose, a Republican political consultant. "It will result in more tax cutting, more conservative reform in education and more Republican-oriented policies."
The idea of independent redistricting was to strip the partisan ways of carving out political maps from the Legislature. The process was open, but the partisan politicking didn't stop.
The state Senate was evenly split over the past two years, the first time in Arizona's history. It allowed the Democrats to have an equal say in the budget crisis, education funding and bilingual education. That decision-making, in all likelihood, will be replaced with a GOP-controlled Senate and House in 2003. Sen. Chris Cummiskey, who is running for secretary of state, said the shift in power could yank tax dollars for the classroom and parks.
The Democrats have been boiling over redistricting since October. Their push for more competitive districts was thwarted, but they still believe in taking the mapmaking powers away from lawmakers.
"It's not the process; it's the people that are flawed," said Dianna Jennings, director of communications for the Arizona Democratic Party.