Pray for Oregon: Gerrymandering

Cherry Grove Church, Washington Co.

I will restore your judges as at the first, And your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city. Isaiah 1:26

County Focus: Our recent look at Multnomah and Clackamas Counties puts us back in the state's North West Region, which includes Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington, and Columbia Counties, and the main population center, Portland. Washington County, which includes part of Portland, is our prayer focus this week.

The United States has 30 counties and one parish named after George Washington. With a population of over 600,000, Washington County, Oregon, is the second-most populous in our state and has the highest population of any of the other Washington Counties in the country. Hillsboro is the county seat.

Washington County, Oregon

The government is a Council-Manager form with the five-member board having legislative responsibility, and the administration delegated to a Board-appointed professional administrator. The Washington County
Board of County Commissioners are Kathryn Harrington, Nafisa Fai, Pam Treece, Roy Rogers, and Jerry Willey. The County Administrator is Tanya Ange.

The County Sheriff is Pat Garrett.

Legislators of the week: The Oregon House of Representatives has 60 seats. Washington County is represented by 13 of them. The Washington County representatives include Ben Bowman, Courtney Neron, Ken Helm, Dacia Grayber, Susan McLain, Nathan Sosa, Brian Stout, Cyrus Javadi, Maxine Dexter, Lisa Reynolds, Farrah Chaichi, Hai Pham, and Jules Walters. Two of the 13 are Republicans – Brian Stout and Cyrus Javadi – the rest are Democrats.

 

Not saying there is anything wrong with that - it is the second most populous county, after all - but the large number of Democrat representatives from one county led me to look at the issue of election district boundaries – again. The districts are redrawn after each official census, so once every ten years. In 2020 and 21 there was talk and prayer around this issue, but once the official map was voted in (along partisan lines), it seems our (maybe just my) attention drifted. But, of course, the issue has not gone away, and there will be new districts drawn in another seven years. Fortunately, not everyone forgot and there are those who are still working to correct the problem of gerrymandering in Oregon. My curiosity led me to a group called The Gerrymandering Project which has a wealth of information.

The Gerrymandering Project is a non-partisan group seeking to provide the numbers and maps to make it possible for states to correct flaws in the way election districts are chosen.

There is a lot of information on their site. Check it out for yourself.  They have a feature that gives a grade to each state regarding equitable representation of election districts and the way the lines are drawn. Oregon, as of 2021, had an “F.” We are, according to their report, weighted toward the Democrats.

The Oregon political action group, People Not Politicians, has proposed and is working toward replacing the current system with a 12-member, bipartisan panel. They are using the initiative system to get a measure on the ballot in 2024 after attempts for 2022 didn’t make it.

Keep those working behind the scenes for reform in the Oregon electoral process in prayer, and that we can become a more equitable state in our voting and election results. And continue to pray for revival. As our founding fathers understood, even a great Constitution and fair laws won’t protect us against those with immoral and unethical hearts.

Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. John Adams.

Our Constitution requires sufficient virtue among men for self-government…James Madison