Redistricting maps denounced as 'incumbent protection' by displaced challengers

PROVIDENCE — Accusations of "gerrymandering" and "incumbent protection" flew at the first public hearing on the proposed new maps for Rhode Island's House and Senate districts.

More than one progressive Democrat — or their allies — planning to run for a legislative seat alleged the proposed new maps bump them out of their home districts into foreign territory, disadvantage them in measurable ways or, in one case, pits them against a like-minded incumbent.

The maps — two versions for the House and two for the Senate — can be perused at the Rhode Island Redistricting website.

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Revisions are expected

Revisions are both possible — and at this point, expected — before the Jan. 15 deadline for the R.I. Redistricting Commission to submit its recommendations to the full General Assembly for votes.

Sen. Tiara Mack, the freshman who knocked veteran lawmaker Harold Metts out of his Senate seat in the last election, said her house on Camp Street in Providence is "conveniently only one of four houses" in her district.

She told the House-Senate Redistricting Commission — which includes former Sen. Metts — that several other streets of "historical'' importance to "the Black and brown community that lives there'' have also been removed from her Mount Hope district.

Splitting off pieces of this neighborhood into three separate Senate districts decreases the "political power" of those seeking to address "the problems that have been pushing out historically Black and brown families from this community,'' including rising housing costs, she said.

The state's redistricting consultant — and map maker — Ryan Taylor acknowledged the great history of the district.

'We're going to give it the full respect that it [deserves] ... We're going to see how we can improve it,'' he promised to Mack's evident surprise.

Not all of the witnesses walked away with those kind of assurances, however.

Among them — Enrique Sanchez, the political director of the BLM RIPAC — who said:

"It is clear that there is an attempt to redistrict out allies and prominent up-and-coming leaders, such as ... Harrison Tuttle, who is running for Senate District 28, who was supposed to run against Josh Miller but was re-districted out ... on purpose." (The proposed maps place his Belmont Road address in Senate District 31, currently held by freshman Sen. Kendra Anderson).

He cited a second alleged victim of the redrawn maps: progressive activist Kinverly Dicupe, who on Nov. 29 opened a campaign account to raise money to run for the House District 62 seat in Pawtucket held by Rep. Mary Messier.

"She was completely redistricted out of her district'' under one of the proposed maps, and placed in the House district represented by progressive Brianna Henries, Sanchez said of Dicupe.

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He also mentioned Lenny Cioe of North Providence, who is challenging Senate President Dominick Ruggerio for the second time. Cioe wasn't moved out of his district, but neighborhoods of Providence where he did well in the last election have been removed.

"How is that not deliberate? How is that not an attempt to mess with democracy, to play the political corruption game within R.I. state politics?"

Added Cioe: "This is what makes our country fall apart ... when games are played to protect political people."

Asked about Cioe's statement, Ruggerio told The Journal on Wednesday: “The reapportionment process is taking place. I am not a member of the commission. I look forward to discussing the issues that impact North Providence and Providence in the 2022 election.”

In her turn at the microphone, Dicupe — who is affiliated with Providence Democratic Socialists of America — said: "When all of these coincidences are going against the same folks ... there's definitely an agenda there."

"And I don't trust the committee, who don't even have the trust of their own folks to get elected," she said in a veiled reference to Metts.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI proposed redistricting maps, accusations of gerrymandering