Democrats in Arizona won a major victory in November in Arizona. The most obvious fruit of the victory was two new Congressional seats in CDs 5 & 8. But we won a major victory in state legislative races, as well. We picked up 6 seats in the State House and 1 in the State Senate. Handicapping just a few months prior to the election was that we would be lucky to avoid a veto-proof GOP majority in the State Legislature. Instead, we now hold 45% of the State House seats, whereas we held just 33% before the election.
Phil Lopes, our House Minority Leader, figured that proportion of seats in the House ought justly to translate to a roughly equivalent percentage of seats on most committees. Most standing committees in the House consist of 9 members. Previously, the Republicans got 6 seats, and Democrats got 3, or 33% – the equivalent of our proportion of seats in the House at the time. Phil figured with our newly expanded minority of 45% of the seats, fairness would dictate that Democrats should now get a roughly equivalent proportion of committee seats. 9 member committees should thus be divided 5-4, or 44% Democrat, 56% Republican.
But the Republican leadership wasn’t having any of it. Instead they ‘compromised’ by expanding the minimum committee size to 10 members and dividing the seats 6-4. This results in just 40% of the seats for Democrats, 5% less than our proportion of seats in the House. You might think that 5% doesn’t seem like all that much – quibbling over crumbs, really – but you would be wrong.
The difference between a 6-4 committee split and a 5-4 split is the need to attract 2 Republicans to our side to carry an issue versus having to attract only 1 Republican. That small 5% difference in committee representation adds up to a 100% increase in the votes we need to shift to win a vote in committee. That is a huge strategic difference in pursuing our legislative agenda. This outcome really puts us in no better position than we were in when committees were 9 members split 6-3 – we had to shift two Republicans then, too.
Needless to say, our Minority leadership are pretty cheesed about this issue, and rightfully so. The GOP got beaten like a red-headed step-child at the ballot box, only to have the majority mug us behind the committee room doors. We Democrats are not getting the representation we won and deserve in the state House. Jim Weiers and the rest of the GOP House leadership are disenfranchising every Democratic voter, and every Independent or Republican who voted for a Democrat this cycle, with this blatant and insulting abuse of power.
If you are a blogger, write about this. If you are voter, call or write your state reps and senator. If you are a party activist, put this at the top of your agenda. This may just be the most important (though admittedly not the sexiest) issue facing the Democratic party in Arizona today.
Discover more from Blog for Arizona
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
The City of Tucson better not add a road tax to my water bill! I don’t even live in Tucson.
The Democratic Party better stop patting itself on the back for an election driven on one factor ” People Hate Bush” because Bush will be gone in two years then what? Both Democrats and Republican politicians are rated by public polls LOWER than Bush! One example is the City of Tucson trying to add a road tax to your water bill!!! The people I talk to are fed up with BOTH Political Parties and trying to establish a committee that favors a committee view and NOT that of the voting public will fuel the backlash even further. Once the public GETS IT and it began in 2006, we in the Democratic Party and the Repubican Party will find SHORTER TERMS in Congress and the Senate as people kick us in and out of Office!
This I can tell you from years of experience: you can’t make nice with Republicans. Sensenbrenner said it plain and simple when Republicans had the House: We won, you lost – get over it. But, when we won in November, the first thing they did was demand (right – demand) a minority bill of rights! They are fortunate that Democrats have too much self-respect to treat the minority the way the Republicans did – but I do hope the Democrats take every reasonable advantage to which they are entitled as the majority. Here, in Arizona, I think we need to put and keep pressure – public pressure – on the Republicans to honor the concept of representative government – and if we have a certain percentage, that should be reflected in our committee assignments. Believe me, 2008 will be no cake walk (not that 2006 was) and the Republicans may wish to think about making Democrats as mean-spirited as they are when – not if – when we are in the majority. AZ is now rather purple – but moving blue!
First of all: Wow, that was much crazier than normal.
Second: You ‘hate to go off topic’? Really? Come on! Seriously… Just come on! I can only sputter impotently in the face of such utter lack of self-awareness.
what the F$#% Dwight???
I will push buttons to put our party back on track with the committee; I hate to go off topic but something very disturbing has just cro my desk; ” a Humane Society Van was just stolen on East Broadway by a Petsmart with three dogs inside. Mexican Nationals running loose in Pima County must be deported! If they can’t respect Dogs, forgetting our laws they need to be kicked out!