Politics & Government

State Reapportionment Has U City Legislators Examining Options for 2012

The redistricting results has both Republicans and Democrats unhappy, which could mean a bipartisan effort to change the process.

New district maps have several legislators making plans and discussing possibilities for the 2012 election.

For instance, a new district that includes U City south of Delmar Boulevard has two current office holders, Rep. Sue Carlson, D-St. Louis, and Rep. Stacey Newman, D-Richmond Heights.

Carlson and Newman have been discussing their plans for 2012.

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“We’re still working on this right now,” said Carlson, who currently represents a small section of University City. “It’s looking like I will run in the U City, Clayton and Ladue district, but we’re still having talks and looking at the numbers.”

She said that although the section of University City placed within the district is relatively small, there are a lot of active voters in those neighborhoods.

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Carlson also noted the reapportionment is being challenged in court by a Kansas City Republicans and St. Louis Democrats. The lawsuits, which have been combined by the courts, state that the courts that established the new maps watered down the influence of urban areas.

The courts took over the redistricting process after legislators could not agree on a map.

Carlson acknowledged she’s not thrilled about the reapportionment. Not only has she been placed in an almost entirely new region, but her old district was split into five or six pieces, she said.

“If I could have drawn the map, I would have done it differently,” she said.

 “Every 10 years we do this,” Carlson said. “I know there’s moves by Republicans and Democrats to see if we can’t adopt a different system for the future. There’s a bipartisan effort to change this. People on both sides are not happy with the way things turned out.”


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