Brummett: Census Data Shows Arkansas Shifts
by February 11, 2011 7:00 pm 131 views
Political columnist John Brummett with our content partner, the Arkansas News Bureau, examines the state Census data released late last week and offers several observations.
As you know, the Census data will be used to reconfigure Congressional and legislative districts this year, which will shape the political landscape in Arkansas for the next decade.
Writes Brummett:
1. Arkansas no longer can be called a rural state. It is a suburban or metropolitan one.
2. It really is not true anymore that the Greater Little Rock area is the state’s leading population center and that Northwest Arkansas is an ever-closing second.
3. Because of the preceding, it is obvious that November’s election was not so much an aberration as a sea change. Arkansas is no longer a Democratic state.
4. There is no readily apparent way the Democratic state Legislature could redraw the four congressional districts to make even one district more solidly Democratic.
Brummett’s logic for his four assertions is outlined in deeper detail. Click here to access his full column.