House releases maps
Sussex County will likely elect one new state representative in the next election. Democratic and Republican House caucuses have both released proposals for remapping Delaware’s 41 representative districts, and both parties call for a new district in Sussex.
As the majority party in the House, the Democratic caucus will determine final election districts. Under the Democratic proposal, District 20 would move from Hockessin in northern New Castle County to Sussex County, where it will include Lewes, Milton and Harbeson.
The proposal would also change District 37 to encompass all of Georgetown, now partilally represented by Rep. Ruth Briggs King, R-Georgetown. If the proposal is finalized, the Hispanic population in District 37 would rise from more than 17 percent to more than 19 percent.
According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population in Sussex County has grown by 26 percent, or 40,500 people, in the last 10 years. Representative districts must be redrawn to have an average of 21,900 residents. Five of Sussex County’s eight representative districts are more than 12 percent over the required average population.
Erik Schramm, chairman of New Castle County Democratic Committee and House Democratic Caucus chief of staff, attorney Bill Bush and House Majority Leader Pete Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth Beach, were in charge of redrawing lines for the House majority caucus. “We tried our damndest to minimize the disruption to citizens, and it’s not easy,” Schwartzkopf said.
Schwartzkopf said community groups, such as the Hispanic Community Redistricting Task Force and League of Women Voters, submitted suggestions for Georgetown to become one district. “Three different representatives had a piece of Georgetown,” Schwartzkopf said. “We listened.”
District 37 would be redrawn to contain all of Georgetown. “These districts affect the public; they have a right to say what they want,” Schwartzkopf said.
He also said he received requests to incorporate Dewey Beach back into his 14th district. “I was never very happy with how it was done in 2002 in my district,” Schwartzkopf said. When Dewey Beach and Rehoboth Beach were split after redistricting 10 years ago, Schwartzkopf said it weighed heavily in his decision to run for office.
Under the proposal, Dewey Beach would move from Rep. Gerald Hocker’s 38th district into District 14. To make up for the population shift, part of District 14 would be moved to the new District 20. The new district would also contain areas now represented by Briggs King and Rep. Harvey Kenton, R-Milford.
Schwartzkopf said partisan politics did not play a role in the process. “We closed one Republican majority district and one Democratic majority district,” he said. “We worked on this plan for over a month before we had the political data.”
This is likely why a proposal from the House minority caucus, released May 17, was similar to the Democrats’ proposal, Schwartzkopf said. “I went where the numbers would take me,” he said.
Both parties released redistricting proposals with one new district in the area between Lewes and Georgetown. Schwartzkopf said his only problem with the minority proposal is that it took away one of the state’s four districts in which one minority group constitutes a majority of the voters.
Under Schwartzkopf’s proposal, all four minority-majority districts remain intact, and all Kent and Sussex County legislators have the opportunity to keep their seats in the House. “When you’re adjusting the districts, you have to do everything you can to maintain the status quo,” Schwartzkopf said.
Kent County would also see one additional representative district. Talleyville in New Castle County would lose District 11 to the northwestern area of Kent County and the Middletown-area of southern New Castle County.
Joe Fulgham, communications officer for the House minority caucus, created a map for House Republicans. Fulgham’s plan would also take two representatives seats away from New Castle County and relocate them, one each in Kent and Sussex Counties.
Under the minority caucus’s plan, Sussex County would contain District 11, represented by House Minority Leader Greg Lavelle, R-Sharpley. District 11 would be set between Lewes and Georgetown, and bordered on the south by the Inland Bays.
Lavelle would have to campaign against District 10’s Rep. Dennis Williams, D-Talleyville, to keep a seat in the House. Lavelle said in an email he would decide whether to run for office closer to election season. “I take my elections one at a time and make the decision to run after discussions with my family and weighing all other relevant factors. I will do that again, as I have always done, later this year,” Lavelle wrote.
Kent County would receive District 3, represented by Rep. Helene Keeley, D-Wilmington South. Keeley would have to run against District 4’s Rep. Gerald Brady, D-Wilmington West, to keep a seat.
House Minority Whip Gerald Hocker, R-Ocean View, said in a press release he understands the Democrats will make the ultimate decision about election lines. “We offer our maps not as a competitive proposal, but rather as another voice in the conversation,” Hocker said.
The state Senate has not released a proposal for redistricting. Schwartzkopf said when the Senate’s proposal is released, legislators will draft one bill for both proposals and allow the bill to be heard in committee.
According to Delaware code, the General Assembly has until June 30 to finalize reapportionment for the 2012 general election. House Democrats will hold a public hearing on its proposal at 7 p.m., Thursday, May 26, in the House Chamber at Legislative Hall in Dover.
To view the Democrat’s proposal for each House district in Delaware, go to legis.delaware.gov and click on Redistricting Information.
