Ross begins ‘campaign’ in new 4th District areas

U.S. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Prescott, has begun the process of increasing his familiarity with Fort Smith area residents who will in 2013 transition from the 3rd Congressional District to the 4th District.

Congressional rules dictate that the new Congressional district lines become official January 2013, although residents will vote in 2012 based on the new lines. (See maps below.)

If he is re-elected in November 2012, Ross will geographically represent more of the Fort Smith metro area than the 3rd District Congressman.

The new redistricting maps recently approved by the Arkansas Legislature cut up the Fort Smith metro area like no other metro area in the state. Crawford County will be split almost evenly down the middle with the western half in the 3rd District and the eastern half in the 4th. The city of Alma — about 5,000 people — will be split down the middle, with 2 city precincts voting in the 3rd District and 2 precincts voting in the 4th District.

Franklin County is moved entirely out of the 3rd District and into the 4th District. Madison County is also moved out of the 3rd District into the 4th.

Lavaca and environs in the northeastern corner of Sebastian County are pulled into the 4th District. Roughly one-third of Sebastian County below Greenwood and below Fort Chaffee and Chaffee Crossing will be in the 4th District.

Using his campaign funds, Ross sent a mailer (dated April 21) presumably to thousands of people in the counties with Congressional line changes.

“According to the rules of Congress, the new congressional district boundaries do not take effect until the 113th Congress, which convenes in January 2013,” Ross explained in a note to The City Wire. “I welcome to the Fourth District each of the new communities in Franklin, Johnson, Madison and Yell counties and in parts of Crawford, Newton and Sebastian counties and I look forward to getting to know them. However, while the new district boundaries don’t take effect until 2013, I’ll be on the ballot in these new counties in 2012. As a result, we are already utilizing campaign resources to reach out to these new counties.”

Ross said in the letter he did not agree with the “decision to split Sebastian County,” but will work for all residents in the new district.

“I’ll be traveling to Sebastian County in the coming months to get better acquainted and hope to see you. If I can ever be of assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact me,” Ross noted in the letter’s conclusion.

Ross, and other Congressional members around the country adjusting to new district lines, are not allowed to spend their office funds to contact or work with residents not able to vote for them in the most recent election. According to the House Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards: “Public Law 102-392, enacted in 1992, prohibited Members of Congress from mass mailing outside of the congressional district from which they were elected.”

The rules do allow House members to “use official resources to respond to communications and invitation requests received from residents and groups within their home state, regardless of the congressional district, so long as it meets the normal standards of what is considered official business pertinent to the duties of their office.”