Candidates Line up for New McLean Senate Seat as Redistricting Battle Continues

The McLean Citizens Association has asked the governor to veto the  Senate and House redistricting plans because they split McLean.

“Despite this strong evidence that McLean constitutes a single community of interest, both the Senate Democrats’ and House Republicans’ plans unnecessarily split McLean into multiple districts, some of which spread to other counties (Arlington and Loudoun Counties),” MCA president Rob Jackson said in a recent letter to Gov. Bob McDonnell.

“These plans effectively negate the ability of McLean residents to have responsive representation in the General Assembly, violate the General Assembly’s own standards, and flout Virginia’s long tradition of fair redistricting that protects community interests," Jackson said.

While the redistricting fight goes on, candidates are lining up to run in the new state senate district that includes most of McLean.

All of McLean had been in the 32nd Senate District represented by Janet Howell.  Part of southern McLean west of  Old Dominion remains in the 32nd District.

But the plan adopted by the Virginia General Assembly and sent to the governor  puts most of  McLean in a dramatically reconfigured 31st Senate District* which literally runs from Crystal City in Arlington County up through McLean following Old Dominion Drive. At Route 123 the new district line jogs to the west and generally follows Route 7 out to Loudoun County.

This newly-designed district is attracting a lot of attention. It’s currently represented by Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple of Arlington but she is retiring. Three candidates have expressed an interest in running. They are:

Caren Merrick, McLean Resident. Republican.  Merrick,  who along with her husband Phillip Merrick founded webmethods, a business-two-business software company, announced in December that she was running against Howell for the 32nd State Senate seat.  But under the Senate’s plan put together  by Howell’s committee, Merrick  now lives in the 31st Senate District.

"While it's still premature to make any formal announcement – as the redistricting plans are not final - we are looking closely at the newly developed 31st Senate seat," Merrick said in a statement. " Given the strong response our campaign has received over many months, it is reasonable to say I will be running for the Virginia State Senate in Northern Virginia."

A German company bought webmethods in 2005 for $546 million. The company remains in Northern Virginia.

Barbara Favola, Arlington resident, Democrat. Favola, former chairman of the Arlington County Board, has declared her candidacy for the seat. Favola has been a resident of Arlington since 1982. She has served as Chairman and a member of the Arlington County Board since 1997.  She served as Chairman of the Board in 2000, 2004 and 2009; and Vice Chairman in 1999, 2003 and 2008,according to the Arlington County board website.

Ben Tribbett, Arlington resident, Democrat. Tribbett writes a  biting political blog, named Not Larry Sabato. He wrote in that blog April 13, that since Arlington County state Del. Patrick Hope has decided not to seek this Senate seat, that he (Tribbett) will actively consider running.

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How to find the proposed 31st Senate District? The politicians have made it exceedingly difficult  for the average citizens to see the proposed districts. Here's a simple guide to finding the proposed redistricting changes:

1. Go to this site, which takes a few seconds to load. You will see a map of Virginia.

2. Go the left-hand side at the top and you'll see Default. Click on the down arrow next to it. You can choose to see the Senate or the House Districts.

3. Click on the Senate. You'll now see a map of Virginia with numbers in green boxes. First go the far right-hand side of the page. You'll see a vertical bar that let's you zoom in. Gradually zoom in on the map until you have Fairfax. You will need some amount of patience here. Just keep at it and you can do it.

4. Now that you have Fairfax squarely on your screen, go back to the left-hand side and click on "current districts." The Senate conference plan (found at the bottom) is already checked. Now the fun begins. You should see orange lines  and orange numbers for the current 31st and 32nd districts and green lines and green numbers for the proposed 31st and 32nd districts.

5. Repeat this process for the House districts.

May the force be with you.