NEWS

District 24 picks up part of EG in latest redistricitng map

By ALEX MALM
Posted 1/18/22

By ALEX MALM Since first running and being elected as the State Representative for District 24 in 2016, Evan Shanley has branded his campaign as "Shanley For Warwick." Now as he gets ready for his fourth campaign, Shanley is having new campaign

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NEWS

District 24 picks up part of EG in latest redistricitng map

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Since first running and being elected as the State Representative for District 24 in 2016, Evan Shanley has branded his campaign as “Shanley For Warwick.”

Now as he gets ready for his fourth campaign, Shanley is having new campaign literature and yard signs designed to reflect what is expected to be the new District boundaries. 

Last week the Special Legislative Commission on Reappointment voted in favor of recommending that the General Assembly adopt “Map D.” If the map is approved, it will mean that Shanley will encompass part of East Greenwich. 

Currently Shanley’s District encompasses mostly Cowesett and the Warwick part of Potowomut. 

The part of East Greenwich that would become part of District 24 includes the Cole, Hanaford and OLM neighborhoods, Shanley said. 

Shanley said that under the proposed district, he would lose the neighborhoods off of Greenwich Ave. between the Crowne Plaza and the Apponaug Circulator. 

“Most of that is going away from my District to David Bennett’s District,” said Shanley.

Shanley said that he isn’t surprised with the proposal noting that there was a decrease in population for Warwick as a whole and particularly in House District 20 which is represented by Bennett. Going into the redistricting process, District 20 was 9.5 percent too small. 

He explained that in order to meet the targeted House district population of 14,632 residents, District 20 needed to gain residents which meant shifting the boundaries. 

The other obstacle that needed to be overcome was the fact that the Redistricting Commission gave a favorable recommendation to change the way inmates at the ACI are counted towards the district numbers.

The recommendation is that inmates serving two years or less should count towards their home districts' populations. 

During the previous meeting Ryan Taylor from Election Data Services explained that the districts that will lose population are House District 20 and House District 15 which is represented by Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung. 

Shanley said that the area he will represent in East Greenwich if elected and Cowesett are similar in some ways and said he is looking forward to learning more about the town. 

“It will be interesting to learn more about East Greenwich politics….it will be kind of a fun challenge to represent two towns if I have the privilege to do so,” said Shanley. 

With the final recommendation made by the Redistricting Commission, it will now head to the Senate and the House who will take a vote on it. 

The changes to the districts will be in effect for the 2022 elections. The current state reps and senators will remain in place until January, 2023 when new elected state legislators are sworn in.

Once the senate and house districts are finalized, Warwick and other cities and towns will use the district boundaries to draw the new city council ward maps. 

District 24, redistricting

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