from the Omaha Reader
Don Walton reported on an idea being floated around by Nebraska Republicans in his Monday column:
Because Washington County already is in the 1st District and bounds Douglas County on the north, why not extend the 1st District boundaries southward and snatch Omaha’s 1st and 2nd Wards?
Move north Omaha’s African-American voters into the Lincoln district to balance population among the House districts, thus avoiding the alternative prospect of considering separation of Bellevue and Offutt Air Force Base from the Omaha district.
Kyle has some further discussion on the proposal over at New Nebraska Network.
Those dirty underhanded bastards! A positive reading I got out of it, however, was that this scheme probably will not fly and they will be forced to balance the districts by separating Offutt and Bellevue, giving the Dems and even larger edge in the 2nd District. On the other hand they will also probably try to make Nebraska a winner-take-all electoral college state, making these shifts moot for presidential elections.