This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 10, 2011 - Missouri's state Senate and House panels overseeing congressional redistricting have hired a high-powered Washington lawyer -- Michael Carvin -- to assist them as they seek to craft eight new district boundaries that can withstand a court challenge.
Carvin will be paid $75,000, a cost being split between the state House and Senate panels, confirmed state Rep. John Diehl, R-Town and Country, who heads the House committee. The contract was signed last week, and Carvin already has made one trip to meet with some legislators, Diehl said. Sources say some Democrats on the panels balked at the cost.
Carvin is with the Washington firm of Jones Day. He is best known as one of the lead lawyers for Republican George W. Bush in the court battle with Democrat Al Gore in late 2000 over who carried Florida and who would be president.
Diehl, a lawyer, said that Carvin was chosen because he's considered a national expert on constitutional issues like voting rights. "We want to make sure we do it in a way that follows the Voting Rights Act,'' Diehl said.
The panel's leaders also wanted to go with an out-of-state lawyer, Diehl added, because they feared a Missouri lawyer might be too close -- or influenced by -- one or more of the state's nine members of Congress. This year's redistricting is particularly tense because Missouri is losing a seat.
Carvin's $75,000 cost would be well spent, Diehl added, if Carvin helps the two panels avoid a likely much costlier court fight over the new congressional map. Carvin's fee does not include any litigation.
Carvin also was chosen because "he knows Missouri," Diehl said. Carvin had advised the Missouri Senate during the last redistricting in 2001, shortly after Republicans had taken control of that chamber.
The Voting Rights Act particularly comes into play with Missouri's 1st District, which takes in the northern half of St. Louis, along with north and northwest St. Louis County. The district is represented by U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, and is the only congressional district in the state where African-Americans hold a majority. Because that district needs to add the most population, many political activists believe that much of that added population will come from the neighboring 3rd District, now represented by U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, also D-St. Louis -- including Carnahan's home.
But Diehl emphasized what he and his Senate counterpart, state Sen. Scott Rupp, R-Wentzville have said for weeks: More than one member of Congress is expected to be unhappy with the state's final congressional map, regardless of how it's drawn.
Republican legislative leaders also have acknowledged that they are preparing for a possible veto by Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, and therefore need to amass a veto-proof majority in the state House and Senate. One way to do that is give Clay what he wants, boundary-wise, for the 1st District, which could result in support from that district's Democratic legislators.
UPDATE: Rupp said in an interview today with Jason Rosenbaum, for the Beacon, that the leaders in the process wanted somebody in the specialized field with experience.
"Chairman Diehl went to D.C. and interviewed a few law firms up there," said Rupp. "We wanted to be looking at law firms with no ties to Missouri, no ties to politicians, no ties to where there would be a conflict of interest or anything like that. And it's a specialized field and they're pretty much all in Washington."
Carvin was attractive to the committees, Rupp said, because the Senate used him 10 years ago.
"So all the bids and prices were right in the same ballpark, he had experience in Missouri and he's very good and highly recommended," Rupp said. "So that's why we tipped in favor of him."
"Could we have found an attorney in Missouri who cost less? Yeah, I'm sure we could have," Rupp said. "But do they have the depth of experience? I mean it's like anything; you're going to get quality, and you have somebody who's dealt with this type of redistricting law numerous times and argued cases. You want that experience and it's a specialized field. There may be a handful of them in Missouri, but they are all politically tied to people."
