Costly Silence

Style Weekly
May 3, 2011

In an act of singular political courage, state Sen. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico County, agreed to make a political sacrifice to help the Richmond region get the representation it deserves in the senate. He took the lead in convincing the Democratic majority to support a redistricting plan giving Richmond, Henrico and Chesterfield counties an extra member of the state senate. Pantele, a Democrat and a resident of that Democratic-leaning district, would have been the slight favorite to win against a solid Republican challenger.

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State funds are allocated to cities and counties according to formulas passed into law by the General Assembly. Few Richmonders know anything about this process. Making sure our area gets a fair share is one of the most important jobs of any state senator. An extra senator would have been hugely beneficial.

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But Republican senators from our area, for purely partisan reasons, opposed the plan supported by McEachin and Loupassi to give Richmond an additional senate seat. The GOP senators convinced Gov. Bob McDonnell to veto the McEachin plan.

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