Redistricting

When politicians chose their voters, district lines are at times purposefully drawn to eliminate challengers.  And this is where the problems arise.  Because of the 2010 census, the state of New York will lose some congressional seats.  I do believe the total number that we will lose is 2.  There have been many proposals.  And, there are some of our representatives that are going to suffer from the lines that have been proposed.

The one that concerns me the most is the representative of my district.  As of right now, I live in the 25th congressional district of New York State.  My representative is Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle.  She has been ranked as being one of the most conservative (if not the most conservative) woman in Congress.  She does not cow tow to the party line.   "Since Buerkle captured the Syracuse area congressional seat in a 2010 election upset, she has been loath to play the game others rely on for self-preservation: She didn’t contribute to state Senate Republicans; she didn’t hire a lobbyist to watch out for her in Albany; and she didn’t sponsor partisan bills to win political friends." ~ Mark Weiner

Needless to say, she doesn't have many friends in even her own party.  Which is terribly sad.  She has been a tremendous representative for our district.  And I find it a shame that even her fellow republicans are so intimidated by her that they can't get their act together to support someone in their own party.   I can't imagine feeling so inferior to someone who is doing good things for their constituents.  So, they decide it is in THEIR best interest to make sure she doesn't win.  Those politicians only care about what is good for themselves, not caring about their constituents.  It is no longer about WE THE PEOPLE ~ whether the politicians are in Washington DC or Albany.  Well, Rep. Buerkle cares about her state and the constituents of not only her district, but her state, also.

Because of all the skewed district proposals, Rep. Buerkle has requested a judge to reject the proposals.  The judge she petitioned will be redrawing the district map and hopefully that will be accepted and it will be unbiased.  If the lines are still skewed against her, she is considering running in another district ~ which she can according to state law ~ but what a shame for those of us in her current district if she has to change districts.

Stay tuned for the outcome.  It has to be settled soon.