Redistricting changes has pros and cons for Dan River Region

State Sen. Frank Ruff, R-Mecklenburg County, said he does not mind the drive it takes to get to parts of the 15th District. But after this year’s redistricting changes, he has an even larger area to cover.

The new 15th District stretches from the northeastern part of Danville all the way to Prince George County near Petersburg. It also includes Lunenburg and Nottoway counties along with portions of Brunswick, Halifax, Campbell and Pittsylvania.

The district is the largest in the state with a perimeter of 623 miles and encompassing 4,200 miles. However, Ruff said he does not mind the size since the changes have now put his residence in Clarksville in the center of the district. He can get to almost everywhere in under an hour and a half of driving.

One problem Ruff had with redistricting was the split of the precincts, which he and other Republicans feel was too partisan and favored the Democrats that control the senate.

“It was purely political. … They chose to make his (Sen. Roscoe Reynolds, D-Martinsville) district more Democrat. This meant they did contortions to accomplish that,” said Ruff. “In the minority, I had absolutely no say, which is interesting because they wanted it to be less partisan but it is as partisan as it has ever been.”

Redistricting eliminated the 19th District which covered all of Danville and Pittsylvania County. Around 40 percent of the old 19th District is currently in the 20th District represented by Reynolds. The changes split up Danville and Pittsylvania County between the 20th and 15th Districts giving Southside two state senators from different parties.

Many people argued Danville and Pittsylvania County were communities of interest and should not be divided.

“It would have a noble effort to keep them together and you could have accomplished that,” said Ruff. “And if you did have to split the county then split it east and west.”

Reynolds said there are safeguards — such as a General Assembly vote and the governor’s approval — that are used to make sure redistricting is done correctly.

“Nobody likes the process. I don’t like the process,” said Reynolds. “Before redistricting, I talked to the folks on the privileges and election commission to do all they could to keep communities whole – to not break up precincts.”

However, he said there is no way to redraw the lines without making changes, and no senator likes to be changed.

The Virginia Redistricting Coalition urged the General Assembly to consider the redistricting maps from the winners of the Virginia College and University Redistricting Competition, which focused on keeping municipalities together and were without political influence.

“The maps these students have drawn show that it’s possible to draw fair, common-sense political districts for Congress and the General Assembly,” said John “Til” Hazel, a lawyer and developer in Northern Virginia. “That’s the opposite of what the Virginia congressional delegation has done by so blatantly devising a gerrymandered redistricting plan that had one goal — protecting their seats.”

The first place winner of the Senate redistricting map did not have as drastic changes and kept the 19th District in place, it still had the 20th District stretching into part of Pittsylvania County and Danville to balance population changes.

While the division of Southside was not always popular, there could be benefits to having two representatives.

“My experience had been whether I have one precinct in a locality or all precincts in a locality then I’m going to do all I can for that locality,” said Reynolds. “And I find it helpful when there is another senator in the locality.”

Ruff said that while he and Reynolds differ politically, they do share some common ground. For example both senators are opposed to uranium mining.

Campbell County, which is a part of the 15th District, previously had more than one state senator. Economic Development Director Mike Davidson said that having more than one senator has not been a burden to the area at all.

“The good thing is now that you have two voices in the city,” said Davidson. “I think that both parties will do whatever they can to bring jobs.”