Capitol Ideas: More red and blue, less purple

DES MOINES - In his book, 'The Big Sort,” Texas journalist Bill Bishop used demographic data to show how Americans had been sorting themselves into homogeneous communities.

As much as choosing where to live based on racial and ethnic similarities, Bishop wrote that people were looking for political likeness. They were seeking out so-called landslide counties where one candidate won elections by 20 percentage points or more.

The same phenomenon appears to be happening in the Iowa House where there are broad swathes of red and blue, but fewer purple areas. Unlike the Senate where Democrats sit on one side of the chamber and Republicans on the other, member of the 'People's House” choose where to sit.

At the start of every two-year General Assembly, members pick their desks. Seat selection is based on seniority, so freshmen get what's left over after legislative veterans snap up the desks in the back row and along aisles.

'Nobody wants to have to climb over other people to get to their desk,” says Majority Leader Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake.

Members choose the back row for leg room, adds House Minority Leader Mark Smith, D-Marshalltown.

A former Chief Clerk of the House observed that many older male legislators preferred desks near the restroom.

Whatever their preferences, it's obvious representatives choose to sit near members of their own party.

Gazing out from the press bench, the right side of the chamber is, appropriately, occupied by Republicans. The far right quadrant of the House is home to 20 Republicans - 19 of them men. Only 13 of the 50 seats on the right half of the chamber are home to Democrats.

By contrast, only nine of the desks in the 'center left” quadrant are occupied by Republicans. Nearly half of the 43-member Democratic caucus sit in that quadrant.

The far left quadrant is the most politically balanced - at least in number - with 11 Republicans and nine Democrats.

The self-segregation isn't new. Ten years ago in the 81st General Assembly, that far right quadrant was home to just one Democrat - Rep. Helen Miller of Fort Dodge. She now sits in the back row of the center right quadrant with six fellow Democrats, including four women, and two Republicans - Upmeyer and Speaker Pro Tempore Matt Windschitl of Missouri Valley who occupy seats designated for the people who hold their positions.

And there were just five Republicans in the center left quadrant.

It's worth noting that even without term limits, only 27 members of the 81st General Assembly remain in the House.

Upmeyer and Smith say the seating arrangement happens by chance, not by design.

'We give our members no guidance on where to sit,” says Smith, first elected in 2000, other than to suggest new members sit near someone who can help them find their way around, explain the process to them and generally point them in the right direction.

Often, Upmeyer says, new members sit near a veteran who recruited them to run or helped them win election

Both caucus leaders like the House system of choosing seats to the Senate's segregated arrangement.

'I wouldn't recommend change,” Smith says. Although there is a sizable chunk of the House where he has no Democratic colleagues, 'I frequently go into those areas, and I'm always welcome.”

Being able to choose where they sit probably makes representatives more comfortable, says Upmeyer, first elected in 2002.

'But the process forces them to interact,” she says of members serving together on subcommittees and committees. 'It doesn't worry me. They have the opportunity to interact.”