This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Republican leaders have for years blatantly redrawn legislative boundaries during the once-in-a-decade redistricting process to protect members of their party, even if it means splitting up communities of common interest and eliminating competitive races.
This year, Senate President Michael Waddoups has made it clear that while some Senate districts are being combined to accommodate population shifts, he intends to protect Republican incumbents.
Except for one.
This year, the Gerrymandering appears not just partisan, but personal.
Waddoups has patched together areas of great distance from one another to keep intact the Senate districts of John Valentine and Margaret Dayton, both of Orem, and another Utah County veteran, Mark Madsen, of Eagle Mountain.
But Sen. Dan Liljenquist, R-Bountiful, will be combined with Democratic Sen. Luz Robles, who represents mostly the Rose Park area of Salt Lake City.
So why are Republicans being protected except Liljenquist? Well, he just happened to be the guy who ran for president against Waddoups in the Senate Republican caucus last fall.
While Liljenquist's district will dominate Robles' in Waddoups proposed scheme, he will have a relatively competitive race on his hands. His Bountiful district is more moderate than many Republican strongholds and Robles is an attractive Democrat to moderates. The plan also is a slap in the face to residents of both Rose Park and Bountiful, since the two communities have little in common with each other.
Waddoups could easily have combined Robles with another Democrat in Salt Lake County — say Gene Davis whose district runs to the south of hers, or Ben McAdams, whose district runs to the east. That probably would have invited cries of unfair partisanship, but that's never stopped the Republican boundary drawers.
A more logical Democrat/Republican merger would have been the districts of Republican Daniel Thatcher and popular Democrat Karen Mayne, who live in the same general West Valley City area. If leadership qualities were considered, Liljenquist would appear to be someone the Republicans would want to keep. He was the leader in the Senate on pension and Medicaid reform, while Thatcher's record, so far, is less distinguished.
If there is a little payback involved here, it wouldn't be the first time. After Linljenquist challenged Waddoups and failed, he was removed by Waddoups from his position as vice chairman of the Executive Appropriations Committee.
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Another coincidence? • Besides Robles' district being combined with Liljenquist's, two other incumbents, both Democrats, would also have their districts combined under President Waddoups' plan: Senate Minority Leader Ross Romero, of Salt Lake City, and Sen. Pat Jones, of Cottonwood Heights.
So the Senate's only two Latinos — Robles and Romero — would be among the four Senate incumbents having their districts combined with another incumbent.
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Suing themselves? • Here is an awkward consequence of Saturday's Republican State Organizing Convention elections: The new party vice president and secretary are plaintiffs in an active lawsuit against the party they now represent as officers.
Lowell Nelson defeated incumbent party vice president Christy Achziger and Drew Chamberlain defeated incumbent party secretary Dana Dickson. Nelson and Chamberlain are among the plaintiffs in a suit against the party in 3rd District Court that challenges the legality of the party's automatic delegate system.