The state is losing a seat because the 2000 Census showed Mississippi has grown more slowly than other states in recent years. State Rep. Tommy Reynolds, head of the redistricting committee, says it's too soon to know which congressmen will be forced into the same district.
Nobody wants to get voted off.
Lawmakers plan to adopt a congressional redistricting plan in early 2002. Mississippi's two newest congressmen, Republican Chip Pickering, elected in 1996, and Democrat Ronnie Shows, elected in 1998, are widely expected to be the ones forced into the same district before next year's election. Spokesmen for Pickering and Shows say the congressmen plan to send staff members to the redistricting hearings. Pickering spokesman Quinton Dickerson said his boss has spoken informally with lawmakers about redistricting. Pickering's 3rd District takes in parts of central and east-central Mississippi, stretching from some Jackson suburbs in Hinds and Rankin counties, up to Columbus and down to Meridian, with parts of Jones County.