04-26-23 CRC - Handout - M. Hoffmann KEY STATE ISSUES
State Sen.John Thrasher stopped by the Times-Union editorial board Tuesday to give
an introduction to some key issues the Legislature will be facing in January.Mike Clark
G �� sums up the visit on the Opinion Page Blog:jacksonville.com/opinion
inequities
At- ar e seats produce
point At-large representa- 2011 ELECTION RESULTS
of view tion in the South at
Michael the turn of the 20th For at-large District 5
Hoffmann Century was just Foy:23.254 Lumb:6,348
one of many barriers
erected against African-American and At-large Districts 1-4
poor white populations. Foy:49,514 Lumb:94,076
Legal barriers included the poll tax,
the literacy test and barriers peculiar to Countywide total
each Southern state as Southern whites Lumb:100,424 Foy:72,768
attempted to lock down Jim Crow seg-
regation and to inhibit the possibility of DISTRICT 5 DEMOGRAPHY
black-white coalitions such as those that •
emerged briefly in the 1890s during the White:17,827
heyday of Southern Populism. Black:73,355
The sole purpose of at-large repre- Hispanic:1,252
sentation in the United States today Other:4,537
remains the dilution of votes cast by Republican:9,691
minorities,whether these minorities are Democratic:74,970
based on ethnicity,race or class. Other parties:12,310
At-large representation in the South
continues to be a means to minimize Source:Duval County Supervisor of Elections office.
African-American electoral strength as
well as to diminish the political influ-
ence of low-and moderate-income vot- meeting of all voters.
ers,which is the case in Atlantic Beach. The Constitution of 1787-89 provides
At-large representation in the con- a classic example of indirect representa-
solidated city of Jacksonville primarily tion:The election of U.S.senators by the
dilutes the vote of African-Americans, various state legislatures,a practice that
and the belated addition 10 years ago of ended during the Populist and Progres-
a residency requirement doesn't alter sive era as citizens insisted on direct
the basic calculus. election of senators.
The 2011 election for the At-large The time-tested method in the United
` Distric sec3 at on tTie Jacksonville City States is single-member representa-
Council,won by Robin Lumb,shows tion,a more direct form of election than
how racial vote dilution via the at-large at-large representation.The single-
system of representation works. member district also brings an electoral
At-large District 5 is overwhelmingly system closer to the"one man,one
African-American and Democrat. vote"mandate of the Supreme Court
The election results from that at-large —although an increasingly right-wing
district indicate that the voters strongly Supreme Court of the last two decades
favored Donald Foy,an African-Ameri- has permitted at-large exceptions.
can who eschewed a party label. An immediate benefit for Jackson-
Predictably,the votes of white Repub- ville,derived from the elimination of
licans outside the district determined the five existing at-large seats and the
who holds the City Council seat today. re-creation of a City Council comprised
There are exceptions to the analysis of 19 district seats,will be the increased
above.However,political scientists have likelihood of meeting the requirements
developed useful,if not predictive,mod- for compact and contiguous districts.
els to judge electoral fairness. And,if you believe,as I do,that a level
One of these concepts is the dif- playing field in politics is an indispens-
ference between direct and indirect able prerequisite for long-term racial
representation.The most direct form and class harmony,then you will insist
of electoral representation in our his- that at-large seats be eliminated and
tory is,or was,the storied annual New single-member districts be instituted in
England town meeting during which Jacksonville(and Atlantic Beach,too!).
the town's elections and budget were
accomplished in a single,often lengthy, Michael Hoffmann lives in Atlantic Beach.