Election Commissioners offer new Senate districting map proposal
State Sen. Michael McLendon (R-Hernando) says he’s happy with the latest map that State Election Commissioners have drawn to satisfy a court order. The latest offering by the State Board of Election Commissioners returns Hernando into one district, instead of dividing the city into different districts.
The State Board, consisting of Gov. Tate Reeves, Attorney General Lynn Fitch and Secretary of State Michael Watson, was again tasked with redrawing the districts in DeSoto County. The action is to satisfy the order of a three-judge federal panel that a minority-majority district be drawn in DeSoto County.
The rendering, released in the latest legal response as it tries to comply with a court order last year to give Black voters a better chance to elect Blacks to the state Senate from DeSoto County.
Under the latest map, Senate District 2 becomes a minority-majority district. Senate District 11 remains a Black-majority district but lowers its Black voting population by about nine percent.
What McLendon says he was most pleased with is that under the new plan, Hernando is not divided as the previous rendering provided.
The Hernando senator said what the Legislature during this year’s session approved was an attempt to wrest control away from DeSoto County.
“The establishment in Jackson tried to take that control away from the people of DeSoto County,” McLendon told DeSoto County News. “They pushed a gerrymandered map that tore apart the southern part of DeSoto County, split Hernando 3 ways and stripped voters of their voice. But we didn’t back down. We fought back—and we won (for now).”
McLendon said he hopes the three-judge panel in charge of the case will agree with the new map presented by the Board of Election Commissioners. The Mississippi National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and other plaintiffs, still have the opportunity to challenge the decision and that may extend the issue longer. Attorneys for the state believe the plaintiffs will balk at this current map, stating the belief that their efforts are to “guarantee that a Black Democrat is elected.”
The issue began when a court ordered redistricting in three areas of the state, including DeSoto County, part of a lawsuit successfully filed by the plaintiffs. The Legislature drew and approved a map that divided Hernando, sending a larger segment of the city into a Delta-area district. At the time, McLendon had offered an amendment map that kept Hernando whole, however it was vote down.
The Legislature’s map was challenged and sent to the Board of Election Commissioners to redraw the districts. Senate districts in the Hattiesburg and Chickasaw County areas were approved but the DeSoto County option was returned to the Election Commissioners, resulting in the latest map provided in a seven-day required timeline.
Once settled, special elections in the redrawn districts are still to happen this year, but it appears the qualifying dates for candidates would have to be shifted, especially if more challenges are ahead. As of now, primary elections would be Aug. 5 with the general election on Nov. 4.
Now, the judges will review this response and the possible NAACP challenge before making a decision. Judges can also order its own redistricting plan and set up their own pre-election calendar.
The latest filing is found below:
