Politics & Government

Major Changes for McLean State Legislators Under Redistricting Proposals

Big Changes in both House and Senate Districts for McLean

McLean will undergo major changes under the redistricting plans that have been introduced in the the Virginia State Senate and Virginia House of Delegates. Some of McLean would join Arlington County in  reconfigured Senate and House districts.

The General Assembly begins a special session today to consider the new districts that abound throughout Fairfax County and the state of Virginia. The new political maps of Virginia have been drawn up by a handful of partisan legislators to protect incumbent legislators and stifle political competition, according to The Washington Post.

Currently McLean is represented in the state Senate by Janet Howell, D-32,  and in the House of Delegates by Dels. Jim Scott, D-53, and Barbara Comstock, R-32.

Find out what's happening in McLeanwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Under the Senate's redistricting proposal, created by the Democractic majority, McLean would be split between  two senate districts:  Howell keeps the eastern half of McLean.  The western part becomes part of the 31st district that meaders from Arlington through McLean then westward through the northern part of Fairfax almost to Chantilly. 

Sen. Margaret Whipple, D-Arlington, currently holds this seat. She is retiring so this will be an open seat. Howell chairs the Senate's Privileges and Elections Committee which proposed the new redistricting map.

Find out what's happening in McLeanwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In the House,  under its redistricting proposal, created by its Republican majority, Del. Jim Scott no longer represents McLean. His 53rd district moves further west. The McLean part is combined with the 48th District which again is located largely in Arlington. Our new delegate: Robert Brink, D-Arlington.

"I went to the McLean Little League parade this morning and they are no longer in my district," said Del. Scott who appeared to have just found out about his new district which he arrived at a public hearing on the redistricting plans mid-morning Saturday at the Fairfax Government Center.

Del. Comstock's district is reconfigured to start near Dolley Madison Boulevard and  would extend into Loudoun County.

The details have the Senate and House redistricting plans have slowly emerged because the state legislators have made it very difficult for the public to find and understand them. McLean Patch and Del. Scott sat together after the Saturday hearing trying to figure out the boundaries or his proposed new district.

When Howell was asked why she decided to change her district and lose part of McLean she said, "We needed a whole new senate district next to me and that has a ripple effect on all the other districts.. We have tried to keep communities of interest together."

Rob Jackson, president of the McLean Citizen Association disagrees. “We strongly object" to the Senate and House plans "because they split McLean into pieces and put us into districts where we have no commonality of interests,” he told the Saturday public hearing jointly convened by the Senate and House committees who had already redrawn the state’s political boundary lines to accommodate population growth in Loudoun and Prince Williams counties and their political needs.

“We think that these two plans ignore the importance of keeping all of McLean," Jackson said.

The special session's sole purpose is to redraw the state's political lines to create two new Senate districts and four new house districts to accommodate the growth in Loudoun and Prince William Counties. The Virginia  General Assembly must realign the boundaries of its 40 Senate seats and 100 delegate districts once every 10 years to reflect new census numbers.  The state's population is now 8 million. That means each house district should contain 80,000 people and each senate district, 200,000 people.

Howell's committee recommended the redistricting plan for the state Senate. The Senate is controlled by Democrats so it is thought that they will adopt the plan.In the House which  is controlled by Republicans their Privileges and Elections Committee, recommended its redistricting plan. The plans must be approved by the governor and U.S. Justice Department. Virginia is one of 11 Southern states covered by the 1965 Voting Rights Laws that finally guaranteed the right to vote to its African-American citizens. Virginia has an ugly history of segregation.

Rob Jackson of MCA explained the plans this way:

The Senate: Under the Senate Democrats’ redistricting proposal, McLean would be split between  two senate districts:  Howell keeps the portion of McLean that is south of Old Dominion and east of the Beltway, along with Tysons Corner.  The rest of McLean becomes part of the 31st district that would run from central Arlington County through McLean and Great Falls to Potomac Falls in Loudon County, and would also include the Sugarland area north of Herndon.  The majority of voters in the 31st Senate District would live outside Fairfax County. 

The Senate Republican plan would place virtually all of McLean into the new 27th Senate District, along with Great Falls, northern parts of Vienna and Reston, then curve south through Herndon and parts of Chantilly north of Route 50.  Governor McDonnell’s bipartisan redistricting advisory committee recommends a senate district similar to the Senate Republican plan, but would not include Tysons Corner or Shouse Village, but would include the City of Falls Church.

The House: Under the Republican redistricting proposal, Comstock’s new district (34th) is fairly similar to the existing district but loses the Tysons, El Nido and Chesterbrook areas and the Sugarland area north of Herndon, but picks up the Potomac Falls area in Loudoun County.  Tysons Corner moves to a Vienna district.

The remaining portions of Scott's district of McLean would be moved to the 48th District which covers much of North Arlington, Virginia Highlands and Crystal City and Reagan National Airport. Arlington voters would dominate this district.


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