Will the Electoral Frankenstein Scare or Soothe Voters and has the Independent Commission Spent its Budget Wisely or Blown It?
It only happens every 10 years, but the result has ramifications across Utah’s educational, cultural, and civic DNA for a decade. It became such a lightning rod that Utahns in 2018 voted to make it nonpartisan and independent. And yet, this year’s roving redistricting process has crawled quietly under the radar despite the political portent the new maps will wield.
Based on the newest U.S. Census data, a redistricting committee determines and then draws the states’ electoral boundaries. Beyond congressional districts, the new lines will also divine the state Senate, state House, and school board districts — indeed some of their members.
This cycle unfolds against the backdrop of Utah-turned-Western-destination. Since the last census, and more pronounced in recent years, Utah has seen a flood of newcomers — not just from California — who could eventually darken the state’s partisan palette from red to purple.
The growth, in concert with other market factors, has hijacked our housing market, created debate about density, traffic, and land use, and exasperated problems like drought, clogged canyons, and overflowing schools.
Despite those policy issues, and the certain impact on the 2022 midterm races, redistricting thus far has failed to capture much public attention.
“We would like to see more engagement in our public hearings,” says Utah Independent Redistricting Commission Chair Rex Facer. “We’ve had modest turnout across the state.”
Sen. Scott Sandall, R-Tremonton, who co-chairs the state’s Legislative Redistricting Committee, also laments the public’s meager interest. He notes that while 30 to 40 people are about average during the committee’s traveling public outreach tour, roughly 700 citizens crammed the Capitol for a recent hearing about the federal government’s condition to require companies with 100 or more employees to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations or proof of negative tests.
“They were more engaged with what’s happening with the pandemic than they are for redistricting,” Sandall shrugs.
Money Well Spent?
Back in 2018, Utah voters passed Proposition 4 by a razor-thin margin, which created the independent redistricting commission. It became toothless two years later when the Utah Legislature in 2020, voted to make the commission advisory only, meaning the new maps would ultimately be drawn by state lawmakers.
Yet the seven-member bipartisan commission was allocated just north of $1 million to conduct its 2021 statewide redistricting process — the first of its kind for Utah.
The commission promptly spent nearly half of those tax dollars to hire the law firm Ray Quinney and Nebeker (for $308,000) and another $99,000 to the marketing shop Love Communications.
Both moves raised the eyebrows of the Legislative Redistricting Committee co-chairs, who note that the independent body cannot be subject to litigation.
“I’m kind of perplexed that they spent that much money for a legal firm,” says Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield. “They pretty much spent all of their money and they didn’t hire any experts to draw maps.”
Sandall said the law firm hire has him “very concerned.”
“I have questioned that,” the Tremonton Senator says. “In my opinion, that was money misspent.”
For his part, Facer, the independent commission chair and a public management professor at Brigham Young University says retaining the large law firm was necessary due to a potential conflict of interest. The Legislature didn’t want the commission to use their general counsel, he said, and the Attorney General would have to represent the Legislature if the state were to be sued.
“It is possible that we could get sued on other grounds,” Facer explains. “We’d like to think that is highly unlikely, but part of the reason hiring legal counsel is so important is to make sure that our maps would meet legal muster.”
Independent commission member Karen Hale, a former Democratic state lawmaker, and former Lieutenant Governor candidate, argues that redistricting law is fairly complex and that much has changed since the last map-drawing cycle.
“It would all be for not if the independent commission doesn’t submit maps that are legally conforming,” Hale says.
Beyond the counsel of Ray Quinney and Nebeker, Facer points to that law firm’s contract with lawyers from Stanford University, considered experts in election law and redistricting law. “It’s been that expertise that we’ve relied on from them,” he says.
At the same time, Facer says the commission is contemplating reallocating some of the legal expenditures — in the neighborhood of $50,000 — for the public engagement campaign during the final month.
“If you felt like you had to go get help, there are better ways of using the money,” Ray adds, “not hiring a big firm for that much money when there’s no chance of getting sued.”
Ray and Sandall also question the Love Communications hire, noting local media has offered robust reporting on the statewide public hearing opportunities and other redistricting updates.
“I’m just not sure what value that marketing firm added to the process,” Sandall says, suggesting the money would have been better used for IT specialists or even returned to taxpayers.
Facer and Hale acknowledge that how the independent commission best engages with the public is “a legitimate question.” Hiring the marketing firm, they insist, has allowed for strategic media engagement, including developing advertising for social media, radio and television.
“Given the relatively small amount of time and resources, we decided to use a public-engagement firm on the outreach side,” Facer says. “We continue to have engagement with them on a weekly basis.”
Facer says he would support more funding in a future independent redistricting effort.
“We have not asked the Legislature for additional funding though we have noted that we have had to do things in very creative ways given the funding that we have.”
Representative Process or Politics as Usual?
So, what about the maps? Facer says the commission’s process is so transparent that members of the public can go on their YouTube channel to help draw or shade lines in real-time.
The commission has an active Twitter feed as an attempt to engage residents across local communities. And, according to Hale, the group has amassed a “binders full of comments,” a playful swipe at then-Presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s gaffe about having “binders full of women” during the second U.S. presidential debate of 2012.
Commissioners have traveled the state extensively, including a recent visit to a Navajo reservation. Members also have sorted through more than 1,000 submissions on their so-called communities of interest maps.
“To map out the state districts or house districts is quite intimidating to most people,” Hale says. “So, what we’re doing is asking people, at the very least, tell us what your communities of interest are.’”
Hale continued: “I’m not sure the legislative group is putting any emphasis on the (communities of interest) piece. We want to keep counties and cities together as much as possible.”
Ray, the Clearfield Republican and co-chair of the legislative committee, counters that communities of interest are impossible to define.
“If you’re making that as one of your guiding principles you’re probably going to fail because you are not going to keep all communities of interest together,” Ray says. “It’s about numbers and it’s data-driven, so that’s what you have to draw to.”
Even so, Ray made a point of complementing local officials in Rose Park and Grantsville for making compelling arguments for keeping their respective communities whole at the ballot box.
“The reason we’re not pre-drawing maps is that we’re listening,” Ray adds. “We’re trying to understand what’s compelling to (the public). Then we’ll sit down after our listening tour and put out our final maps.”
Ray says the legislative committee has been content to use staff, drafting press releases and PSAs, since they don’t have an allocation of $1 million in taxpayer funds. And he doesn’t mince words about which group has been more effective.
“I’m kind of perplexed that they spent that much money for a legal firm.They pretty much spent all of their money and they didn’t hire any experts to draw maps.”
Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield.
“I like our process better than theirs,” Ray says. “We’re in a better position on the communities of interest they talk about because our guys come from those communities.”
What About the Will of the People?
The courts have ruled ultimate control of the redistricting maps cannot be ceded by the Legislature. For 2021, the independent commission will submit its maps to the legislative committee by Nov. 1. Final maps are to be completed on Utah’s Capitol Hill by early January, where they will face votes in the state House and Senate.
Utahns may be confused, Facer says, since there are two different parallel redistricting processes occurring at the same time.
“If we have the independent process that the people voted on,” Facer says, “why is the Legislature going through the same process at the same time?”
If the legislative committee disregards the independent maps, “I don’t know if there is any recourse other than the public engaging their legislators to hold them accountable,” Facer adds.
Sandall says that happens already. He notes the average tenure of a Utah state senator is 6.9 years, while the average on the House side is 5.8 years.
“If the people quite honestly don’t like the lines that are drawn, in two years they’re going to get a chance to choose who represents them.”
Sandall and Ray say they appreciate the independent commission and that their maps will be considered.
Redistricting has a long history of getting politicized and overheated. In Oregon, the state’s GOP recently boycotted part of their legislative session to deny passage of the new redistricting maps.
Prior to the creation of the independent commission, Utahns watched state lawmakers draw the Beehive State’s political boundaries each cycle. As Utah’s demographics continue to evolve and shift, redistricting remains the only formal process to ensure balance so that, theoretically, every voice is heard.
Even though the state’s first-ever independent commission won’t get the final say, members — along with the eight advocacy groups supporting them — hope their map-drawing may become a model.
“Anybody that wants to watch us map can go on our YouTube channel and literally watch us map,” Facer says. “We’re doing this to represent the communities of interest and not some political gamesmanship.”
Ray argues the Proposition 4 vote, which established the independent commission, needs to be put in perspective. He points out the only reason the measure passed was due to the vote total in Salt Lake County.
“The whole state doesn’t feel that way, Salt Lake County feels that way,” Ray says. “Whether the people voted to do one thing or another, the Constitution prevails. I think we have a pretty good process.”
Hale guarantees there won’t be any regrets from any commissioners, saying they have tried their best and met the measure of our charge.
“Because this is the first time the state has had an independent commission, there is some pressure there,” Hale says. “I would hope that the legislature feels some pressure too.”
