Assembly makeup criticized

As a result, Gansert, R-Reno, said she will introduce legislation at the 2009 Legislature to amend the state constitution to have an independent commission redistrict legislative districts.

She said Democrats in 2001 so gerrymandered the boundaries of the Assembly districts to benefit their party that Republicans have little chance of ever picking up seats.

"The makeup of the Legislature should reflect the voting," Gansert said. "The Assembly is the house of the people, and the people should be represented equally. There are so many people voting Republican, but the Assembly is 2-to-1 Democrat."

Similar complaints were made in the past by longtime Assembly Minority Leader Lynn Hettrick, R-Gardnerville, but nothing was changed. Gansert admitted she probably won’t get her proposal out of the Legislature since Democrats hold a majority in both houses.

A count of votes in the Assembly districts shows 431,963 people voted for Republican candidates, while 421,183 people voted for Democratic candidates.

But Democrats did not run candidates in two districts. If Republican votes in those districts are dropped, 44,490 more people voted for Democrats than Republicans.

Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, disagrees with Gansert’s proposal of allowing a commission to redistricts seats.

"Reapportionment is a legislative responsibility," she said. "If you have quality candidates, you win seats."

"Look at Bonnie Parnell," Buckley said, referencing a Carson City Democratic assemblywoman. "She wins every time in a Republican district. The key is having superior candidates."

Buckley added Republicans were well represented at redistricting hearings last conducted in 2001, since the GOP controlled the Senate and the governor was Republican Kenny Guinn.

She noted that statewide Democrats now hold a 100,800 registered-voters advantage.

In 12 states, independent bodies other than the Legislature already are responsible for redistricting.

California voters on Nov. 4 approved Proposition 11 by 50.8 percent of the vote. This calls for an 14-member commission outside the Legislature take over redistricting duties.

Gansert said she is researching redistricting proposals, but some sort of independent commission should be given similar authority in Nevada.

Each decade in step with the U.S. Census, the Nevada Legislature changes the boundaries of Assembly, Senate and congressional districts to make them as nearly equal in population as possible..

Redistricting is required by the U.S. Supreme Court’s one-man, one-vote decision in 1964.

That decision requires legislatures to draw up boundaries of districts so they are roughly equal in population — not in voter registration or, as Gansert proposes, actual voting.

Before that decision, Nevada had 17 state senators, one from each county, although the population of Clark County was many times that of sparsely populated Esmeralda County.

The Nevada Legislature last redistricted in 2001 and will do it again in 2011. Traditionally the parties in power control how boundaries of election districts are drawn.

Gansert contended Republicans didn’t gerrymander the Senate districts as much as Democrats did the Assembly in 2001.

Instead, she concedes they were more concerned about the "Jon Porter factor."

At the time, it was widely reported that Republicans made concessions on redistricting legislative districts to Democrats in exchange for having the 3rd Congressional District in Clark County drawn in a way so that Republican Porter had a better chance of winning the seat.

Her independent redistricting plan would require approval of the Legislature in the 2009 and 2011 sessions and then be approved by the public in the 2012 election.

"But we should have a discussion," she said. "I have seen more than anyone the effect of gerrymandering. The makeup of the Assembly should more closely represent the voting."

As party leader, Gansert is responsible for recruiting Republican candidates to run for the Assembly.

She also could circulate petitions to have the public vote on a constitutional amendment to turn redistricting over to an independent group. Voters would have to approve that proposal in 2010 and 2012.

Gansert, however, said she has not reached the point yet where she would circulate petitions on her redistricting plan.

She mentioned that Assemblyman Lynn Stewart, R-Henderson, who faced only minor party candidates on Nov. 4, received 43,110 votes in winning re-election to District 22.

In comparison, Buckley received 7,565 votes in winning District 8, while Democrat Ruben Kihuen won District 11 with 4,288 votes and Democrat Mo Denis prevailed in District 28 with 4,664 votes.

Stewart received far more votes because his district is in a growth area while many strong Democrat seats in Las Vegas are in "inner city" area where there has been little growth since redistricting in 2001, according to Gansert.

Stewart’s district, however, now has more Democrats than Republicans.

Republicans Melissa Woodbury and Chad Chris-tensen took their respective districts, which now have Democratic voter advantages.

Gansert attributes the surge in Democrat registrations to the popularity of Democrat President-elect Barack Obama, rather than any change in political philosophy of voters.

"I still think people in Nevada are conservative."