Mark Johns Explains Redistricting on This Week’s State of Greater Western New York Report – February 10, 2022

If you take a look at the map of the Greater Western New York Region, you’d see neatly drawn lines of all 17 counties. But if you take a peek at the newly-drawn congressional districts, your head will spin. We’ll find out how we got there on this week’s State of Greater Western New York Report.

Our guest this week is former New York State Assemblyman Mark Johns. He helped craft the independent committee that was designed to thwart gerrymandering. Johns explains what led to the creation of the committee in the first place and its dramatic failure. He speculates on the reasons behind this and provides compelling facts to support this.

Johns then describes the new districts both on the federal (i.e., Congressional) and state (i.e., Senate and Assembly) levels. He explores how this impacts the representation of local communities within the Greater Western New York Region. He also delves into the challenges faced by low-density (primarily rural) population areas. Finally, he offers his thoughts on potential solutions to these problems and a place you can go to get more detailed information.

Our guest happily answered questions from the live audience. In fact, these are probably some of the same questions you had. Would you like to be a member of our live audience so you can ask our guests questions? Click here to join the growing number of members who share your feelings on StateOf.GreaterWesternNewYork.com because then we can automatically send you the link to watch our shows live.