As Democrats and Republicans bicker over Maine’s congressional district lines in Augusta, we hope they don’t take the issue too far, or Maine’s leaders may find their approval rating in a free fall like the lawmakers in Washington have recently experienced.
Last week, the Redistricting Commission voted 8-7 to support the Democrats’ congressional district plan, which would leave Maine’s district line mostly the same ”“ with Cumberland, Knox, Lincoln, Sagadahoc, York and part of Kennebec counties in the 1st District.
The Republican plan would redraw the line and move North Haven ”“ the hometown of Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree ”“ out of the 1st District, which she represents, into the 2nd District. That would mean Pingree would have to run against Democratic Rep. Mike Michaud in the 2nd District to have a shot at maintaining a seat in House of Representatives.
While that plan itself presents some major cause for concern, the real concern is the tug of war on how a plan will be approved.
Some Republicans on the Redistricting Commission said last week they could use their legislative majority to bypass a statutory requirement of a two-thirds majority vote needed to approve the final plan to redraw congressional districts, according to the Associated Press.
Fortunately, Senate Majority Leader Jonathan Courtney, R-Springvale, said he would like to avoid that scenario, which he said could invoke a lawsuit from Democrats. He said the two sides will resume negotiations to further discuss a consensus plan before the legislature convenes Sept. 27.
While the bypass-lawsuit route is not likely, Courtney did say there are a number of examples in the past in which Democrats, when holding the majority, got around the two-thirds requirement by inserting language to bypass the rule.
But we hope Courtney and Maine Republicans will work with their Democratic counterparts to compromise on this plan, because the rationale that “they did it, too” is not a good enough reason to suspend the rules to force the Republican plan through.
In the interest of their constituents, Maine legislators would be well-served to keep the redistricting plan out of court, and their dealings with it out of the headlines.
The U.S. Congress’ approval rating hit an all-time low in August after both sides stone-walled on a deal to increase the country’s debt ceiling. The debacle resulted in the downgrade of the country’s credit rating as well as a downgrade for legislators.
According to a poll taken by CNN/ORC on Aug. 1, 84 percent of Americans said they did not approve of the way members of Congress were handling their jobs.
With all of the partisanship making headlines these days, the political landscape may look very different in the years to come, and if Maine leaders want to keep their jobs, they should keep that in mind as they head back to work this month.
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Today’s editorial was written by City Editor Robyn Burnham on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via e-mail at kristenm@journaltribune.com.
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