Some Dems also balk at redistricting plan: ; Division of district covering Raleigh and Summers counties draws fire from some Democrats

While Republicans have been the most vocal critics of the Houseof Delegate's redistricting plan, some Democrats also are findingthe proposal hard to stomach.

Some are unhappy with tweaks here and there, while others in thesouthern coalfields aren't happy with the growing influence of theEastern Panhandle.

But it's the way the plan slices up the five-member 27th Districtcovering Raleigh and Summers counties that has drawn the loudestDemocratic protests.

The district seats currently are held by Raleigh Republicans JohnO'Neal, Rick Snuffer and Linda Sumner, Raleigh County Democrat RickyMoye and Summers County Democrat Virginia Mahan.

The proposal would divide them into a two-member district and asingle-member district covering sections of just Raleigh County;another single-member district covering sections of Raleigh andWyoming counties; and a single-member district joining the SummersCounty portion of the old district with portions of Monroe.

The plan is unpopular with county leaders.

The Raleigh Chamber of Commerce broke with the state Chamber inrequesting the current multi-member district remain as-is. Raleighand Monroe county commissioners have voiced opposition as well.

Moye, a member of the House redistricting committee, offeredseveral amendments to keep the current setup intact but wasunsuccessful.

Mahan is set to step up to the plate once debate begins Thursday.She has represented the 27th District for 15 years and said it'salways been a diverse team, with both liberal and conservativemembers who have worked well together.

"I think this redistricting plan really weakens it, and I thinkit's intentional," she said.

Going into redistricting, everyone knew that the southern part ofthe state would lose two delegates due to population loss. But Mahanand Moye said those population losses were in the eastern coalfieldcounties of McDowell, Mingo and Logan, not their area.

Raleigh County lost only 465 people since the last census.

"I understand that they want to keep a power seat in southernWest Virginia, and I understand that some of their motives are notnecessarily evil, but I do think it's unfair," Mahan said. "It'sespecially unfair to people that I love and represent, and my partof the state is having to pay the price."

Moye said the plan adds population to surrounding districts thatwere under-populated by carving a slice off Raleigh.

"Everybody took a hunk of us, pretty much," Moye said. "We wereripe for the picking, I guess."

By his count Raleigh County actually could be attached to thedistricts of 11 delegates, but only three of those were guaranteedto actually live in the county.

Brent Boggs, D-Braxton and chairman of the House redistrictingcommittee, said it was necessary to carve up Raleigh County to makeall of the other districts in the south work.

"(Moye) pointed out correctly that Raleigh County did notexperience a great population loss, but the region itselfexperienced a great population loss," Boggs said. "And any time thatyou have that happen, there's going to be ripple effects."

But that doesn't assuage the anger of the affected delegates,especially when they look at the map and see the seven-delegatestrong 30th District in Kanawha.

"It's unfair, that's all you can say," Moye said.

Both Moye and Mahan agreed that if the 27th District seats hadbeen held by five Democrats, they wouldn't have had to worry aboutbeing broken up.

"That would have made a difference, I think so," Moye said."Unfortunately, that's the ugly side of politics."

Mahan said the district has paid the price of all the complainingover the seven-member 30th.

"I do think this is more about the 30th and not the 27th," shesaid. "Everybody knows that we're talking about the 30th when we'retalking about single-member districts. Unfortunately the collateraldamage is being done well east of Kanawha County and into RaleighCounty."

Interestingly, Mahan shares an office in the east wing of theCapitol with 30th District Democrat Nancy Guthrie. She said theylike one another and politics don't get in the way.

Both Moye and Mahan still were working on plans to preserve the27th District, although Mahan admitted she didn't feel there wasmuch she could do at this point.

"I don't think anybody's amendment will pass at this point," shesaid. "I think the train is on the track and it's rolling, butthat's not going to keep me from doing what's right."

She's been through the process before and said the outcome isnever satisfactory.

"The thing about redistricting, and this is my second go-aroundthrough this process, is that nobody's happy with what you do," shesaid. "Very few people go home feeling good about redistricting."

Contact writer Jared Hunt at jared.hunt@dailymail.com or 304-348-5148.