Upcoming Legislative Session to reapportion Alabama

Bibb County may wind up with only two State Legislators

By Daniel L. Bamberg
Alabama Representative April Weaver (R) and Alabama Senator Cam Ward (R) recently discussed reapportionment of legislative districts in Alabama.
Weaver and Ward whose districts include Bibb County seemed enthusiastic about the task, which will begin, in the upcoming March session of the Alabama Legislature. They expressed their opinions about how this might positively affect their constituency.
“Right now Bibb County has four legislators,” said Ward. “April (Weaver), Bobby Singleton, Ralph Howard and myself. Under reapportionment Bibb County and other rural counties will maintain one legislator from the House and Senate.”
At least making sense of the boundaries from the district map as it pertains to rural counties seems to be one of the main talking points in the issue of reapportionment. According to Ward the geographic nature of some districts on the current map allows less focus on the small corners of rural counties, which fall in such a district.
According to Senator Ward, “Ralph Howard and Bobby Singleton serve a large geographic area and several counties. The corner of Bibb County that they represent is such a very small part of that. The voters who live in the corners of Bibb that Singleton and Howard represent make up something like five percent of the voting population within those districts. Both legislators are good people but Bibb just isn’t a primary concern,” Ward explained.
Senator Singleton serves District 24 of the Alabama Senate. There are 8 counties within that district: Bibb, Choctaw, Hale, Marengo and Tuscaloosa Counties as well as the entireties of Sumter and Greene County.
Representative Howard serves District 72 of the Alabama House. This district includes portions of Bibb, Chilton, and Marengo counties and the entirety of Perry and Hale Counties.
“I think Bibb County will be better served as will many other rural counties if there was one Senator and one Representative to serve them,” explained Weaver.
Weaver also expressed that in such a currently dismal economy having one person in each branch of the legislature serving the rural areas will help bring focus on economic growth and to focus on all matters facing an entire rural county.
Representative Weaver currently serves a large portion of Bibb County as well as a small geographic but highly populated portion of Shelby County. Senator Ward serves the greater portion of Bibb County, all of Chilton County, a highly populated portion of Shelby County and a very small portion of Jefferson County.
A reapportionment committee will be assigned in the upcoming legislative session in March. Those assigned to this subcommittee will take many considerations in weighing factors to determine the new district lines.
With reapportionment there is the possibility of extending a greater majority for the Republican Party, as there has been for Democrats during reapportionment during their 136 years in control of the state legislature.
According to Ward and Weaver in areas where some Representatives live just within the boundaries of the old districts a reapportioned shift may force two legislators typically in separate districts to face one another in the next election. This could potentially force a Democrat whose district is typically Democrat to suddenly reside in a district which is typically Republican.
“That could happen but I don’t think we will see too much of that,” explained Ward. “If it does happen, that’s just how it goes when the majority party draws the lines.”
Both Ward and Weaver hope to serve the entirety of Bibb County and both believe it will be best for Bibb’s citizens.
“I am from Bibb County,” explained Weaver. “I understand Bibb County. I understand the needs and the citizens. Just as the portion of Shelby County which I serve is where I work and have worked for a while.”
“That’s how I feel,” said Ward. “I served a large portion of Bibb County as a Representative and I love the citizens and the landscape of that area. I feel like I also understand the needs of Bibb County’s folks.”