Montgomery, AL – A joint committee is proposing new districts for the Alabama House and Senate that could force four sitting Democratic representatives to face off against one another in primary elections.
The maps released Wednesday place the homes of Montgomery Democratic Reps. Joe Hubbard and John Knight in the same district. It also groups together Reps. Patricia Todd and Demetrius Newton of Birmingham.
Hubbard says Republicans purposefully pitted white Democrats against blacks in districts that contain a majority of black voters.
Republican Rep. Jim McClendon co-chaired the committee in charge of the maps. He says they are a work in progress and can be tweaked before the Legislature votes in an expected special session next week.
McClendon says the lines comply with the state and U.S. Constitutions, as well as federal law.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)