Jason Chaffetz, a Republican about to take Utah’s 3rd district congressional seat, says he’s not going to support efforts to give D.C. a vote in Congress. So says the Deseret News.
Yeah, yeah—-GOP’er against District voting rights; no news there. Why should anyone care what this guy thinks?
Well, the former BYU placekicker is the first member of the Utah delegation to come out against the so-called Davis solution (after now-retired Va. Rep. Tom Davis), which seeks to appease Republican misgivings over handing Democrats an extra House vote by giving the GOP another vote in Utah, which was narrowly screwed out of an extra seat in the last reapportionment. He also replaces a fellow Republican, Chris Cannon, who had supported the Davis bill. (Chaffetz challenged Cannon from the right, running mainly on immigration and garnering George W. Bush‘s endorsement.)
Chaffetz proffers the constitutional excuse for opposing a congressional vote for the District: “I recognize that taxation without representation is fundamentally unfair. But what should we do? I believe it is possible to give residents of Washington, D.C., a voice without violating the Constitution,” he tells the Utah paper, advocating for retrocession. “Giving Maryland an additional seat in the House of Representatives raises no Constitutional questions and gives D.C. residents the representation they seek.”
Hmm. So this guy’s a constitutional law scholar? A judge, maybe? At least a lawyer? History buff?
Nope. Corporate PR guy.