W&L’s Rush Pens Two Opinion Pieces   Politics professor Mark Rush published opinion pieces in the Jurist and The Virginian-Pilot in November.

By Erica Turman
November 19, 2020

Mark Rush, the Stanley D. and Nikki Waxberg Professor of Politics and Law at Washington and Lee University, published opinion pieces in the Jurist and The Virginian-Pilot in November, expressing his views on proposed national legislation and recently approved legislation from the 2020 election.

In the Jurist, Rush discusses the potential implications of the proposal to admit Puerto Rico as the 51st state in the United States. In the piece, he writes, “When Alaska and Hawaii were admitted to the union, Congress increased the House of Representatives’ size by one seat for each of the new states. Then in the ensuing reapportionment, the size of the House returned to 435. If Puerto Rico’s admission followed the same pattern and it came at the expense of other states’ representation, the dynamics surrounding who would vote for or against statehood would become intriguing.” Read the entire op-ed here.

In his opinion piece in The Virginian-Pilot, Rush addresses the recent passage of Amendment 1, which was on the ballot this fall. In the article, he notes, “The commonwealth now joins the growing number of states that have taken the redistricting process out of the hands of the legislature and turned it over to a commission. This is a tremendous step forward. No one doubts the integrity of our elected officials. But, allowing them to control the process by which they are placed into or returned to office is nothing short of a conflict of interest.” You can read the full piece here.