Alabama Republican Party Chairman John Wahl admits that it will be difficult for his party to win the Alabama’s Second Congressional District seat based on the maps created by the special master.
The three-judge panel is expected to select a new map soon. The court will most likely choose one of three maps created by the court-appointed special master.
The new maps redraw the Second District with Black voters comprising 48.5% to 50.1% of the voting-age population.
Wahl discussed the problem this creates for Republicans during a recent appearance on WVNN’s “The Yaffee Program.”
“I think it’s hard,” Wahl said. “Any one of those three, I think they’re designed to not allow a Republican to win.”
He said creating another Democratic Party district was the ultimate goal by the plaintiffs and the court.
“Obviously, the party is put in a very hard situation here because we’re looking at and literally facing a court decision that forces the state to basically create two Democrat districts,” he said. “And let’s be honest about what’s going on here. The plaintiffs were very clear about what they wanted. This is not about racial districts.
“It’s pretty clear from the wording that this is creating a district that allows Black voters to have a candidate of their choice. Now that’s not saying a Black candidate. It’s literally is kind of code word for creating two Democratic districts.”
Wahl said this sets a bad precedent for elections in the state and across the country.
“And that’s one of the things that troubles me about this ruling in general,” he said. “I think this is a political ruling as much as it is based on any racial prejudices. Plus, let’s go back to the original intent of the Civil Rights Act, which was that we should not be looking at people based on the color of their skin. We should be looking at people as individuals and as equals and everyone as children of God, not as Black or white.”
He also said the court shouldn’t be taking the place of the Legislature in drawing congressional maps.
“This is a constitutional issue,” he said. “The Founders were very clear that the people’s representatives should be redrawing maps. Not a federal court, and there are a lot of reasons for that. One is, who knows your local communities better than your local officials?”
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.