Program date: March 11, 2022
Air date: March 14, 2022
From The City Club of Eugene:
For the first time in 40 years, Oregon gained a new congressional district in the latest once-a-decade redistricting of political boundaries in the state. Some current office holders at the state level are facing career disrupting realignments of state house and senate districts. Some politicians ambitious for statewide office are pleased with the opportunity to run in newly reconfigured districts. Meanwhile local political office holders, including city councilors, are looking at shifts in population among neighborhoods and ward boundaries.
The 2020 Census data necessary for local and state jurisdictions to grapple with redistricting was released late. There was a myriad of reasons for the delay, beginning with neglect from the Trump Administration, which withheld adequate support for the Census to be completed on time. This, coupled with the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic, wildfires, and protests in various cities throughout the country, made 2020 one of the most challenging census-gathering years in modern history. The delay put a great deal of pressure on the Oregon Legislature to come up with a reasonable plan for redistricting in a very short time. Some are satisfied with the resulting lines, and some are not.
Our speaker today has a wealth of experience with the impact of reshaping political jurisdictions. In this program find out how the latest redistricting is likely to shape our political choices in the upcoming elections.
Speakers:
Jim Moore has been an independent political analyst in the Portland area since 1990. He is currently the elections analyst for KATU television and the political analyst for KXL 101 FM radio in Portland. In addition, he is a regular source for a number of regional newspapers and several national media enterprises. Moore teaches politics at Pacific University, where he is the political outreach director of the Tom McCall Center for Civic Engagement.