The new Congress really needs to look at reforming the Congressional redistricting process. Currently, partisan line drawers are allowed to split up small counties and create ridiculous looking districts that weave through different neighborhoods in order to pack people of one race into one district in order to make other districts uncompetitive. This is done to a science in states like Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, and Georgia.
The Congress should make it law that if a county is around the size of a Congressional district, being approximately 650,000 residents, it must be made into its own district in order to make districts as compact and professional looking as possible.
It should be mandated that legislatures draw Congressional districts along county lines unless its like King's county in New York which would have to be split into four districts or Wayne county in Michigan which would have to be split up into three.
For instance, DeKalb county in Georgia has 677,549 residents. This would be one district instead of splitting pieces of it up into a couple different districts, GA-04, which would be represented by Hank Johnson.
In Alabama, Jefferson county has 657,000 residents. Currently this is segregated into two uncompetitive districts. There is the black AL-07, which went for Kerry with about 65% and then the very white AL-06, which went for Bush with about 80%. Under the new redistricting law, this would be AL-06, but would conveniently include all of Jefferson county and would be a tossup district.
This is really something that Congress has to look at if we want to have competitive House elections once again.
What does everybody think?