Photo Courtesy/WV Legislative Photography Senate Minority Whip Mike Woelfel asks questions of counsel about congressional redistricting Wednesday.

Photo Courtesy/WV Legislative Photography
Senate Minority Whip Mike Woelfel asks questions of counsel about congressional redistricting Wednesday.

CHARLESTON — Members of the West Virginia Senate committee considering redistricting proposals held their third meeting looking at how West Virginia’s future two congressional districts could look in 2022.

The Senate Redistricting Committee met Wednesday in the Senate Judiciary Committee meeting room at the State Capitol Building.

Lawmakers could be considering congressional, state Senate, and House of Delegates districts as soon as Sunday depending on when Gov. Jim Justice decides to call a special session coinciding with October legislative interim meetings.

As of Wednesday, Senate Redistricting Committee members submitted 24 different congressional redistricting proposals. According to the committee’s rules, draft maps must be uploaded to the Legislature’s redistricting website 24 hours in advance of any announced meeting.

Instead of starting with the re-drawing of senatorial districts, the committee chose to start Sept. 23 on congressional redistricting. The U.S. and state Constitutions require the re-drawing of congressional and statehouse districts every 10 years on conjunction with the release of U.S. Census population numbers.

West Virginia’s population dropped by 3.1 percent, from 1.85 million in 2010 to 1.79 million in 2020, resulting in the state dropping from three congressional districts to two. Federal and state constitutions require congressional districts to be as close to equal in population as possible and be compact. The state Constitution also requires that congressional boundaries be bounded by county boundaries.

“I’m hoping we’re going to make the best decision, whatever it is,” said Senate Redistricting Committee Chairman Charles Trump, R-Morgan. “I think we would all rather be in a position other than having to go from three to two congresspersons in West Virginia. It’s most unfortunate, but that said, that’s a duty we have and we’re not going to escape it.”

Depending on how state lawmakers draw the two new congressional districts, it could result in the combination of Republican primaries between 1st District Congressman David McKinley (Ohio County, 2nd District Congressman Alex Mooney (Jefferson County) and 3rd District Congresswoman Carol Miller (Cabell County).

Trump has introduced a total of 15 congressional maps, many based on ideas submitted by members of the public to the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Redistricting during 12 regional public meetings and three virtual public meetings. All but two of those maps keep West Virginia’s two fastest-growing regions — Morgantown/Monongalia County and the Eastern Panhandle — in the same congressional district.

Both state Senators Dave Sypolt, R-Preston, and Glenn Jeffries, D-Putnam, introduced maps last week that kept Morgantown/Monongalia County and the Eastern Panhandle in separate congressional districts. After state Senators Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, and Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, raised concerns about splitting up Cabell, Kanawha, and Putnam counties, Jeffries introduced three new maps that kept those counties together in a congressional district while also keeping Morgantown/Monongalia County and the Eastern Panhandle separate.

“Trying to come up with a perfect map, I just don’t see how we can accomplish that,” Jeffries said. “I still prefer an east-to-west map, separating … between the Monongalia area and the Eastern Panhandle.”

“I like the east-west scenario … I think we can come up with equality of population and I think we can justify compactness,” said state Sen. Mike Caputo, D-Marion. “I think it will be the duty of that congressperson to make that district grow and be the best that it can be. That’s why I’m leaning that way now.”

State Sen. Chandler Swope, R-Mercer, said he preferred congressional districts that divided the state into north and south districts in a way that kept southern counties together.

“It shouldn’t be connected to either of the panhandles, because that would dilute the representation inappropriately and not necessarily fit the compactness calculations,” Swope said. “My personal preference is a north-to-south bifurcation because that would ensure that the southern half of the state that I represent would have a high level of representation no matter who their congressperson is.”

“I do believe we’re looking at a snapshot in time that occurred during a certain period during 2020 that identifies how many people we have in our state or had that day, month or year,” Woelfel said, asking a question of the committee’s counsel. “Find a case if you can that says we’re allowed to look into the future with a crystal ball … and tell what’s going happen in terms of growth in the population, or population shifts, or deaths and births?”

Senators also received a first look at draft plans for re-drawing the 17 two-member state senatorial districts. Three out of the five plans give Monongalia County its own senatorial district for the first time. Monongalia County has been typically split between the 2nd and 13th senatorial districts. Committee members are expected to discuss those maps during a 3 p.m. meeting later today.

The House Redistricting Committee held its first meeting last week and introduced six draft congressional maps, only one of which split areas of growing populations. Since then, an additional congressional map was uploaded. They also uploaded a proposed map for new House of Delegates districts, changing from 67 districts to 100 single-member districts.

To visit the West Virginia Legislature’s redistricting page to review draft maps and submit public comment, go to https://www.wvlegislature.gov/redistricting.cfm.