An editorial by Times Union discusses the state Senate Republican's redistricting proposal and calls them out for being glaringly politically self-interested rather than serving the public's interest.
First came the pitch that the 63rd state Senate district the Republicans want to create in order to protect their tiny majority would be upstate. How nice of them, looking after a region that tends to get shortchanged politically and economically.
And now comes some even more homespun, if nakedly parochial, salesmanship for an idea that’s indefensible regardless of its location. The oddly shaped district the Republicans have in mind would be a Capital Region one — only not when it’s being touted to a different constituency in the upper reaches of the Hudson Valley as a special gift just for them.
A little something — a little gerrymandering, that is — for everyone. Except, of course, good government.
But the Capital Region is no different from Ulster County or anywhere else in New York, at least when it comes to how it best would be represented in state government. The issue is quality, not quantity.
An additional state senator would be of limited help, we would think, especially when he or she would be in office for such blatantly partisan reasons.
Read the full article here [13].
