What do Goochland County and the city of Lynchburg have in common?
A state Senate district, if the Justice Department or a three-judge panel approves a new Senate redistricting plan adopted by the General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Bob McDonnell.
The new 22nd Senatorial District would wind from Louisa County, through Goochland, Fluvanna, Cumberland, Prince Edward, Buckingham, Appomattox and Amherst counties to the northernmost precincts in Lynchburg. Three Republican candidates already have announced their intention to run for the seat.
This district, with a decidedly Republican bent, is a substitute for the current 22nd, which is farther west and includes Botetourt County, parts of Montgomery and Roanoke counties, and Radford and Salem. It is represented by Sen. Ralph K. Smith, a freshman Republican who would be put into a district with another Republican senator, Stephen D. Newman, in the new plan.
The new 22nd would replace a Richmond-oriented district, including parts of Henrico, Richmond and Chesterfield, which Senate Democrats drew up. But it fell victim to a desire by Republicans and Gov. Bob McDonnell to keep two state Senate districts within Virginia Beach, the state's largest city. The Democrats had merged two Republican senators into one district and tried to create the Richmond district, the 8th, out of one of the GOP districts.
The Democratic plan, which fell prey to a McDonnell veto, had proved so promising that two aspirants, Tom Shields and former Richmond City Council President William J. Pantele, had expressed an interest in running for the proposed seat. Both said they were disappointed at the disappearance of the district, but not surprised, given the vagaries of redistricting.
Lawmakers altered the boundaries of all 40 seats to reflect population changes noted in the 2010 census. Each Senate district approximates 200,000 citizens.
The initial plan would have forced Republican Sens. Walter A. Stosch, John Watkins and Stephen H. Martin farther away from the Richmond suburbs into more rural districts. The new plan draws them back into the Richmond area.
In the new plan, Hanover County, now represented solely by Sen. Ryan T. McDougle, a Republican, would be split three ways. McDougle would still represent most of the district, but Stosch would take four precincts in the western part of the county and Sen. A. Donald McEachin, a Democrat, would push into central Hanover, as far as Ashland.
Here's how Richmond-area senators would fare:
•Stosch, 12th District — part of Hanover and many precincts in Henrico.
•Watkins, 10th District — all of Powhatan, part of Chesterfield and part of Richmond.
•Martin, 11th District — all of Amelia County, all of Colonial Heights, part of Chesterfield.
•McEachin, 9th District — all of Charles City County, part of Hanover, part of Henrico and part of Richmond.
•Sen. Henry L. Marsh III, D-Richmond 16th District — all of Hopewell and Petersburg, part of Chesterfield, parts of Dinwiddie and Prince George counties and part of Richmond.
•McDougle, 4th District — parts of Hanover, Spotsylvania, Westmoreland and King George counties and all of Caroline, Essex, Lancaster, Middlesex, Northumberland and Richmond counties.
•Sen. R. Edward Houck, 17th District, a Democrat — all of Orange County, all of Fredericksburg, parts of Albemarle, Louisa and Spotsylvania counties.
•Sen. Thomas K. Norment Jr., 3rd District, a Republican — all of Gloucester, King and Queen, King William and New Kent counties; all of Poquoson, parts of James City, Surry and York counties, and parts of Hampton and Suffolk.
The 13th District, which currently comes up into Hopewell and Prince George counties, would be moved into Northern Virginia and consist of parts of Loudoun and Prince William counties. The senator who represents the current 13th District, Frederick M. Quayle, R-Chesapeake, would be placed in a district with Sen. Harry B. Blevins, R-Chesapeake.
Fast-growing Prince William County would be split five ways — down from six in the first plan.
All 140 legislative seats — 100 in the House of Delegates and 40 in the state Senate — are up for election in November. Election statistics show that the competition between the two political parties for the Senate seats is likely to be close.
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