New Election Districts
I support a rational, fair re-districting based on two principles, "one man - one vote" and the unity of geographies with similar interests.
"One man - one vote" means that the population of districts should be as close as possible to equal. Each elected official in a representative body should have essentially the same number of constituents as any other. This simple and well understood.
"Unity of geographies" is a bit more complicated but just as important. This principle should be used to make sure that a single, populous area does not dominate the vote of lower density areas. The simplest example is a populous city surrounded by a rural area. Let's suppose that the entire population is entitled to five districts. If the area is simply divided into five pie shaped wedges, the urban area will control all the districts and elect all five representatives. A fairer way would be to create a "donut" shaped district around the city containing the rural population and divide the city into four districts. This way the urban and rural populations are both fairly represented.
The Secretary of State chosen in this election may be required to establish the election districts for the next ten years for Oregon. This is one of the least discussed but most important issues in this election. If the Governor and Legislature cannot agree on a re-districting plan, the responsibility falls to the Secretary of State. With a Republicrat legislature and Demican as Governor, as is likely the case, and given the past performance of each, this is likely to happen. The Republicrats and Demicans are battling in this election to gain control of this process.
If I am faced with this task when I am elected, I will apply the two principles of "one man - one vote" and unity of geographies to establish a fair districting plan. I will not draw boundaries just to favor a political party or an elected official.