Doug Grow has a good read over at MinnPost about the likelihood of rural Minnesota losing political clout in the state legislature after the 2010 Census spins into 2012 redistricting. Of particular note is Rep. Al Juhnke’s assessment that the next two years of legislative activity are going to become make or break for all manner of rural initiatives, a matter on which I happen to agree with him.
Speaking of my zone of knowledge, I can imagine a “no news” 2012 redistricting for northern Minnesota’s Iron Range, but I can also picture a deeply divisive, painful redistricting as well. Check the ages of our representatives, and the chances that some of them will angle for commissioner gigs in the event of a DFL gubernatorial win this fall and it’s more likely than not that the region will be represented by fewer people with less seniority very soon. This is somewhat likely if the DFL loses the governor’s race but exponentially more likely if the DFL wins. Same deal for Duluth. The people in the wheelhouse of the seniority bump are all in the suburbs.
The only true solution for places like the Iron Range is for people to deal in ideas instead of seniority. Make your own clout. Make it out back, in a still you built yourself.
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