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Does Absolute Power Corrupt Absolutely?
06-11-03

In the final 72 hours of the 2003 General Assembly, Republicans strong-armed a redistricting bill which primarily affected the boundaries of the 3rd and 7th congressional districts in an effort to make the "more Republican" and protect first-time winner Bob Beauprez and any potential Republican successor to 3rd C.D. Congressman Scott McInnis. The irony of the still-hot controversy is that Republicans did not need help in either District

Republicans had more than State considerations in mind when they honed their strategy over several months. The division in the U.S. House of Representatives remains close and as national players look to the 2004 elections, there is concern that, in the event the Economy has not recovered, Republicans could lose control of the House by a razor-thin margin. Such a scenario makes every single House seat important. Losing either the 3rd or 7th C.D. could be the difference in which party controls Congress so it was understandable why Washington operatives such as the White House’s Karl Rove were paying attention to Colorado. Suddenly, Colorado had been thrust on the national scene and most of us didn’t even know that until it was over! (Perhaps ignorance is bliss after all.)

Colorado Republican legislative leaders sprang their strategy at the last minute because they didn’t want to give Democrats a chance to respond. They legitimately feared Democrats would use procedural rules to delay or even block any redistricting legislation. Unfortunately, to accomplish their objectives, the Republican leadership tossed out the rule book and did silly things themselves such as have eight people each read a different eighth of the bill simultaneously in order to be able to say the bill was read aloud. The fact no one could understand what was being said meant nothing to Republicans who likely would counter that no one was listening anyway!

Did Republicans violate the spirit and letter of the law when they suspended various procedural rules to accomplish their goals? Yes. Will it matter in the ensuing legal battle between Republicans and Democrats? Possibly, although the Judicial branch of our government shies away from telling the other branches of government (the Executive and Legislative) how to conduct their affairs. So the Republicans could prevail in court.

Republicans claim they were merely following a constitutional mandate that the Legislature redraw congressional lines after every census. This is accurate because, indeed, that is the responsibility of the General Assembly. The problem is they had that chance in 2001 and early 2002. By failing to reach a compromise with Democratic legislators, the majority Republicans probably lost any further opportunity to redraw the lines for Colorado’s seven congressional districts until the next decade. The idea is they get one bite of the apple and if they fail, they don’t get another chance once the torch is handed to the judiciary to break any impasse.

Republicans argue Democrats were not interested sincerely in a compromise and, instead, wanted to go to court in hopes of getting a superior plan to what Republicans were willing to offer. Democrats argue Republicans refused to negotiate reasonably and tried to impose unfair plans on them. Both statements could be true. Their position of power, however, made it incumbent on the dominant Republicans to "go the extra mile" (or perhaps the extra precinct, in this case) and find a solution.

If Republicans do lose the legal battle, the lesson will be that whoever is in power during redistricting should try their best to compromise and work with the minority to get a map everyone can accept. Republicans have a 5 to 2 congressional district advantage in Colorado. That represents 71% of the seats while they only have 37% of the State’s registered voters. Did they really need to make the 3rd and 7th C.D.’s noncompetitive?

What is saddest about the controversy is not which side is right but the severe damage done to relationships between the parties. The bitterness felt by Democrats for a process which abused their rights will not subside quickly. Republicans severely damaged bipartisanship by railroading through their redistricting plan. While Republican leaders acknowledge this, they remain confident these wounds will heal quickly. Ironically, it all will be unnecessary because in 2004, Colorado likely will see the Republican nominees for all five districts win handily regardless of whether or not the new map is upheld.