This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, April 27, 2011 - U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis, stopped by Crystal City on Tuesday to view a weakened section of the community's Mississippi River levee and to hear the Army Corps of Engineers' plan for shoring it up.
Carnahan's visit also was a reminder of his own efforts to shore up his political career, now under threat from the Missouri General Assembly.
Republican leaders in the state House and Senate have proposed congressional redistricting maps that, aside from other differences, both do away with Carnahan's congressional district.
As he stood next to the levee, Carnahan said he was "absolutely not'' resigned to his possible fate.
"My thoughts have been pretty clear,'' said Carnahan, who drove to Jefferson City recently to lobby legislators. "I believe we should have a regionally oriented map'' that takes the state's disparate regions in mind when drawing the lines for the remaining eight congressional districts.
Carnahan reaffirmed his view, shared with St. Louis Democrats and some urban business leaders in both parties, that the St. Louis region -- which has about 40 percent of the state's population -- deserves at least three congressional districts.
He added that he also sided with Republican leaders in Jefferson and St. Charles counties, who want their counties primarily within a single district. St. Charles County is now split within two districts and would remain so in the state House's map. The state Senate would put St. Charles County primarily in one.
Jefferson County -- which includes Crystal City -- is now entirely within Carnahan's 3rd District. The House's map would split the county three ways, while the Senate map splits it in two.
Both maps would put at least some of Jefferson County in the 2nd District, now represented by Republican Todd Akin, who may be planning to run for the U.S. Senate. St. Louis County GOP activist Ann Wagner announced today she is forming an exploratory committee for a 2nd District run, and several other Republicans also are considering a bid.
Carnahan declined to answer when asked if he might consider a 2nd District bid.
But he did say he believed that the state's appellete judges would do a fair job of drawing a congressional map. The judges will take over if the General Assembly fails to agree on a map -- or fails to override a possible veto by Gov. Jay Nixon, should he dislike what the legislature draws up.
Carnahan declined comment on the General Assembly's continued stalemate. He smiled faintly as he observed, "This is a long, windy road. The legislative process is just part of it."
But at the moment, GOP leaders in both chambers acknowledge that the road is rocky.
House Leaders Blame the Senate
State House Speaker Steve Tilley, R-Perryville, told reporters Tuesday that he did not want the redistricting process to go to the courts. He said legislators -- not judges -- are supposed to be in charge of reshaping congressional maps. He even proposed a special legislative session, if necessary.
But Tilley also reaffirmed his contention that the state Senate is to blame for the apparent deadlock.
He complained that Senate leaders have declined to return phone calls from state Rep. John Diehl, R-Town and Country and head of the House's redistricting effort.
"I just think it's ridiculous," Tilley said. "You can't negotiate with somebody who doesn't want to come to a resolution." He added that the House compromise map, approved last Friday, did include elements recommended by Senate negotiators.
House Majority Leader Tim Jones, R-Eureka, also emphasized that Republican members of the state's congressional delegation support the House map -- and that some oppose the Senate's alternative.
Tilley said some congressional opposition to the Senate map makes it "a non-starter'' in the House. "It basically comes down to the fact that if the congressmen don't support it...then it's a problem for us."
Tilley has disputed the claim of state Sen. Scott Rupp, R-Wentzville and the Senate's redistricting chairman, that House leaders are seeking to appease U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St.Elizabeth, who dislikes the Senate map because most of St. Charles County would be in his district.
Rupp told the Beacon last week that the logjam wouldn't break unless the House decided to stop focusing on what made Luetkemeyer happy.
Tilley said the issue wasn't just Luetkemeyer, but concerns from other rural legislators who also don't want their counties to be in a district dominated by St. Charles County. "My concern isn't necessarily what Blaine Luetkemeyer thinks. It's what our mid-Missouri reps think,'' the speaker said. "And they are all concerned with the Senate map."
Dempsey Denies Congressional Bid -- for 2012
House Republicans direct much of their ire at state Sen. Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles, who is the majority floor leader in the Senate and strongly opposed to the House map splitting up St. Charles County.
When queried about Tilley's complaints about the Senate, Dempsey replied, "That's his opinion, I disagree with it."
"I think we continue to try and be productive and work with the House," Dempsey said. "At the end of the day, I think we'll be successful."
But Senate President Pro Tem Rob Mayer, R-Dexter, said he objected -- as has Rupp -- to the House's decision to attach its latest compromise map onto a bill dealing with unrelated legal matters.
"I think most legal opinions would tell you that that type of amendment would not be germane and could create some legal issues and problems," Mayer said. "So I don't really take that effort seriously."
Dempsey, meanwhile, discounted continued complaints from some Republican members of Congress -- echoed in the latest edition of the Washington publication Roll Call -- that the stalemate was, as Roll Call reported, "the result of local GOP lawmakers having designs on running for some the very House seats they are currently drawing." The article singled out Dempsey as a possible Luetkemeyer rival.
Said Dempsey: "For many members, St. Charles County is a block of votes. For me, it's my home. So that's been my focus."
As for running for Congress, Dempsey didn't rule out a future bid. But he added that his plan at the moment is to run for re-election in 2012 to the Missouri Senate.
