Is Virginia a Democracy or an Incumbent's Dream?

When the 140 members of the General Assembly stood for re-election last November, most of the races were ones which only an entrenched incumbent would love, running in a district drawn to protect the majority party of the respective legislative chamber, with either no opponent at all or just token opposition.

In fact, the only folks who could relish the outcome of the November elections were the perpetually jaded and chronically cynical who say voting and participating in democracy don’t matter one whit.

Oh, and also the incumbents who benefit from such a pathetic outlook on public service.

In the House of Delegates, all 100 members were up for re-election. Only 27 races were contested; less than a fifth of those races were even remotely close. The Senate wasn’t much better. There, majority Democrats honed their gerrymandering skills in an ultimately futile effort to preserve their control.Ultimately, though, they failed when the elections resulted in a 20-20 split with Republican Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling giving his party operational control of the body.

Late in his 2009 run for the governor’s mansion, Republican Bob McDonnell voiced his support for the creation of a nonpartisan redistricting committee, which would take the job out of the hands of the Assembly. It was a long-held position of his Democratic opponent, Sen. Creigh Deeds.

But once in office, McDonnell seemed to forget he’d ever made such a promise to voters, failing to get behind a legislative effort to make his pledge a reality and ultimately opting for a powerless advisory committee.

That powerless advisory committee, by the way, devised more logical, more competitive and more sensible legislative districts than the General Assembly could ever dare to dream. And the legislative maps went no where but down the toilet.

This year, Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel, R-Winchester, and Sen. John C. Miller, D-Newport News, introduced SB 446, legislation to create a bipartisan redistricting committee for future elections. Seven members, no officeholders, three Democrats, three Republicans and a chairman selected by the remaining six.

The Assembly itself would have final say as to the approval of the districts — not good, in our opinion — but still better than the farce we have now.

Amazingly, it passed the Senate 40-0; it’s now in the House of Delegates, sitting in a subcommittee of the House Privileges and Elections Committee.

Is it likely to get out of subcommittee or the full panel, much less make it out of the House?

Don’t hold your breath.

The Republican majority in the House wants nothing to do with fostering democracy or giving voters real choices on Election Day. It’s all about pure, raw political power ... who’s got, who wants it and who wants to keep it.

And Gov. McDonnell, that erstwhile proponent of bipartisan redistricting? There’s not been a peep from the governor’s office about the bill. And we don’t expect one, either.