October 18, 2011
State Rep. Marty Walsh's district would reach into Quincy and state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz would pick up Dorchester precincts while losing whole neighborhoods elsewhere in Boston, according to a draft of redrawn political boundaries a legislative committee released Tuesday.
Walsh, a Democrat who represents the 13th Suffolk District, would pick up a precinct in Quincy (Ward 3's Precinct 3) under the plans.
On the state Senate side, Sonia Chang-Diaz, a Jamaica Plain Democrat, would pick up four precincts in Dorchester, including Ward 13's Precincts 1, 2, and 4, and Precinct 1 in Ward 14. She would also grab precincts in the northern part of Hyde Park.
The move would increase the minority population in her district, since she would shed Chinatown, Fenway, Back Bay and Beacon Hill. "In terms of outcomes, while there may be more refining to do, these maps make a very strong recognition of the high growth in our populations of color over the past decade," Chang-Diaz said in a statement. "They increase our majority-minority districts in the state by 50 percent in the Senate and 100 percent in the House. That’s progress you can sink your teeth into.”
From the State House News Service, here are some of the headlines out of Tuesday's Redistricting Committee meeting that was held this afternoon at the State House. The public can get a closer look at the district maps here.
Redrawn legislative districts maps unveiled today reflect population shifts chronicled over the past decade. The overall population in Massachusetts grew 3.1 percent to 6,547,629 during the past decade, according to U.S. Census results released in March.
-- The draft House map would double majority-minority districts from 10 to 20, with four Latino districts including one incumbent-free in Lawrence;
-- Draft House map has three majority-minority House districts in Boston, one each in Worcester, Lowell and Brockton;
-- Draft Senate map has three majority-minority districts, up from current two, with the third currently represented by Sen. James Welch (D-Springfield);
-- Reunited communities under proposed Senate district maps include Barnstable, Belchertown, Melrose, Revere, Saugus, Somerville and Woburn;
-- Newly split communities under the proposed Senate district maps include Northbridge, Needham and Winchester;
-- The total number of split communities under the Senate plan is 21, down from 25 currently;
-- House committee chairman Rep. Michael Moran did not have a detailed breakdown of split communities but said Cambridge, Fall River and Boston were more unified under the plan;
-- A seven-day public comment period, billed as unprecedented by committee members, will commence today with an executive session tentatively set for Tuesday, Oct. 25 to vote on House and Senate districts;
-- In a letter, House committee chairman Rep. Michael Moran said the panel had conducted 13 public hearings and heard 31 hours of testimony from more than 400 groups and individuals.
-- "I believe that the draft maps presented by the Committee contain the fingerprints of everyone who has participated in the process to date and reflect the many difference faces of Massachusetts," Moran said in his letter.
-- House Minority Leader Brad Jones called the release of the maps a "milestone" for the committee. "Redistricting is never an easy process, but I want to thank Chairman Moran for his efforts in affording time and resources to both the Republican members on the Redistricting Committee and in the Republican caucus," Jones said in a statement. "As a member of the Special Joint Committee on Redistricting, I have been in discussion regarding specific areas of the state. We are all now aware of the totality of the proposed Legislative map, and will use the days ahead to consider of all of its potential ramifications. I look forward to the public comment phase of this project and a continued conversation amongst legislators before the maps become finalized.”
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