Musgrove calls special session to consider redistricting

By Staff
From staff and wire reports
Oct. 24, 2001
JACKSON State legislators could decide next week if Lauderdale County will stay in one congressional district or if it will be split between two separate districts.
Gov. Ronnie Musgrove on Tuesday set a Nov. 1 special legislative session for the state House and Senate to re-draw Mississippi's congressional districts and trim the number from five to four.
All states redraw their congressional districts every 10 years. The goal: to keep roughly the same number of residents in each district and reflect recent population changes and shifts.
Because Mississippi's population grew more slowly than other states in the past decade, the state will lose one of its five U.S. House districts. And that has set up a heated political battle as lawmakers try to re-draw district lines.
The plans
State House leaders prefer a redistricting plan that would split Lauderdale County in two, with part in a central Mississippi district and part in a south Mississippi district.
State Senate leaders prefer a redistricting plan that would keep Lauderdale County intact in a central Mississippi district much like it is today.
Both House Speaker Tim Ford, who presides over the House, and Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck, who presides over the Senate, agreed to the special session date, Musgrove said.
The governor said that the Legislature has studied the redistricting problem and knows the underlying population numbers. He said he will not announce support of any plan before the session begins.
Short session
Musgrove did not say how long he expects the special session to last. I hope it lasts just long enough for them to get a plan on my desk,'' he said.
Ford, D-Baldwyn, said the special session should take two or three days. Said Ford: "I know the members of the Legislature want to vote on a plan."
Besides deciding the fate of Lauderdale County, lawmakers also face the task of drawing a district in which two incumbents are likely to compete.
Many legislators believe it will be the two newest members of the U.S. House of Representatives Republican Chip Pickering, who represents the east central part of the state, and Democrat Ronnie Shows, who represents the southwest and parts of Jackson.