Could Hartford legislators actually throw the state’s largest city, the ultimate contrast to Fairfield County’s Gold Coast in Connecticut’s 4th Congressional District, into the 5th District? Get a load of this from the CT Post:
Bridgeport, the blue firewall that helped Democrat Jim Himes twice prevail in Connecticut’s once-GOP-dominated 4th Congressional District, could be thrust into the ultimate gerrymandering battle.
The state’s most populous city is said by both Democrats and Republicans to be the object of House Speaker Christopher Donovan’s affection. The Meriden Democrat, entertaining a bid for Congress in the historically Republican 5th District, is a member of a bipartisan redistricting committee in the Legislature.
The redistricting is due to state population changes reflected in the 2010 U.S. Census.
State Rep. L. Scott Frantz, R-36th District, who represents Greenwich and parts of Stamford and New Canaan, said he was familiar with the redistricting scenario. The 5th District includes New Britain, Torrington, the Litchfield Hills, the Farmington River Valley, part of Waterbury and Danbury, the latter of which could be part of a reconfigured 4th District.
“From Chris’ point of view, I think it would be intriguing to redo the district with Bridgeport, which would dramatically improve his chances of winning,” Frantz said of Donovan. “There would definitely be a fight over that.”
Donovan scoffed at theories that he is seeking to annex Bridgeport into the 5th District, which is currently represented by Democratic Senate hopeful Christopher Murphy.
“People make up all kinds of things,” Donovan said Tuesday. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. For me to say that rumors have any credence would not be responsible.”
Himes did not respond Tuesday to a message seeking comment about the redistricting process, the subject of which was said by party insiders to have come up in a recent conversation between him and Donovan.
Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch and City Council President Thomas McCarthy also did not return phone calls.
Connecticut’s overall population went up slightly from 3.4 million residents in 2000 to 3.5 million residents in the most recent decennial U.S. Census, requiring the state to redraw the lines for congressional and General Assembly districts.
Himes needs to pick up about 8,000 residents to bring his district into equilibrium with the other four districts, which are projected to have 714,800 when the process is complete.
A population slowdown that cost Connecticut a congressional seat a decade ago won’t factor in this time, however.
State Democratic Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo dismissed the likelihood of Bridgeport swapping places with Danbury and several other Fairfield County municipalities, such as Brookfield, that are not currently part of Himes’ district.
“Can you picture that map?” DiNardo said. “It doesn’t even make sense really.”
The population of Bridgeport, where Himes won a 23,000-vote plurality in his 2008 upset of Republican Christopher Shays, is 144,229.
Frank Farricker, Greenwich’s Democratic Town Committee chairman, expressed concern about the 4th District losing Bridgeport.
“I absolutely think that Bridgeport belongs in the 4th Congressional District, and that’s where it should stay,” said Farricker, who was appointed Tuesday to the board of the Connecticut Lottery Corp. “We have a long, long history of working together.”
Among the politicians that could be affected by such a scenario is Mark Boughton, the Republican mayor of Danbury, who ran on his party’s ticket for lieutenant governor in 2010 and is said to be mulling a run for Congress.
“I’ve heard a lot of rumors,” Boughton said. “I know there was a movement afoot in 2000 to put Danbury in the 4th Congressional District that never gained any traction.”
Boughton’s preference is that his city of 83,000 residents remain in the 5th District.
“Our economic issues are more attune with western Connecticut and northwest Connecticut than they are with lower Fairfield County,” Boughton said. “When you’re competing now with Norwalk and Stamford, it gets a little more challenging. I’m just afraid that we’d fall to the bottom of the pile.”
Boughton isn’t ruling out a run for the House, but said he is committed to serving Danbury.
“Look, you never say never to these things,” Boughton said. “You certainly always look at something and that kind of thing.”
Donovan confirmed that he is weighing a bid for higher office.
“I’m certainly interested, but haven’t made an announcement,” Donovan said.
Donovan emphasized that the redistricting committee hasn’t even begun to delve into the congressional districts and will conduct its business transparently.
“Every legislator who’s on that panel is running for something,” Donovan said.
The reapportionment committee is made up of the Senate president, House speaker and the Republican minority leaders in both chambers. All four were able to pick a person to join them on the committee, with the entire group selecting the ninth member.
The group is facing a mid-September deadline to offer its redistricting recommendations for a vote in the General Assembly. If no agreement can be reached, the matter goes to court in November.
“I’m confident the speaker, his work on there is going to be what’s in the best interest of voters in Connecticut,” DiNardo said of Donovan.
Party politics is an ugly business. The Protestant and so-called “unionist” majorities in Northern Ireland did this sort of thing to maintain the British presence in the province, cheating the Irish and Catholic minorities out of any chance for having a political voice.
Rich people’s shit stinks as bad as everyone else’s, to their everlasting chagrin.