Politics & Government

NAACP Joins County Chairman In Protest of Senate Redistricting Plan

Corey Stewart recruited the local NAACP in his effort to convince the governor to veto the Senate's redistricting plan.

County Chairman Corey Stewart today continued his effort to convince the governor to veto the Virginia Senate's redistricting plan, and he recruited the president of the local NAACP chapter for support.

Stewart and Prince William County NAACP chapter President Ralph Smith held a joint press conference this afternoon at the McCoart Building to protest the Senate’s plan. They both do not believe that Prince William County will be adequately represented if the governor approves the Senate plan. They said the Senate’s current map will splinter Prince William into seven districts, six of which will be served by elected leaders who are residents of other counties, including Fairfax, Loudoun, Fauquier and Westmoreland.  Smith echoed many of the same concerns that Stewart raised yesterday in a press release.

Smith said the Senate plan would dilute the influence Prince William has in Richmond and that it is "unacceptable."

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Stewart continued his criticism of the plan during the 2 p.m. Board of County Supervisors meeting today. He urged county residents to contact the governor as soon as possible to ask him to veto the plan. Stewart said Prince William County is now larger than the city of Miami and continues to grow to more than 410,000 residents.

"But under the Senate redistricting plan, we would continue to have only one state Senator who is a resident of Prince William County," Stewart said during today's board meeting. "This is a despicable plan that will leave us under represented."

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Stewart said when Sen. Chuck Colgan (D-Manassas) decides to retire, the county's influence will be nearly gone and left to one junior Senator. The lack of representation in Richmond will impact school, road and other state funding, Stewart said. The Senate plan would leave Prince William County with Sen. Richard Stuart, R-Westmoreland, for representation, Stewart complained. Stuart also represents a small section of Prince William County. 

 "But he (Stuart) has not been to one meeting of the delegation of Prince William County," Stewart said. "We would be of secondary importance." 

Sen. George Barker crafted the Senate plan and he defended it yesterday. He said that his plan that the Senate approved does not decrease Prince William County’s representation, but instead increases it from four senators to six senators. Barker also said that the Republic-led House of Delegates approved a proposed redistricting plan that will increase the number of delegate seats from five to eight, four of which contain land outside Prince William County. Barker said a county resident has already announced a campaign for the new 22nd District.

"With more senators accountable to Prince William voters, the county will end up with more advocates for its concerns in Richmond, not fewer," Barker contended.

Stewart argued that although it is true that the county would be getting more representatives, those new represenatives would cover small portions of the county and thus would not put county issues at the top of the list.

"They would be more worried about the jurisdictions that comprise the majority of their districts," he said.


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