Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart (R) is not happy with state Sen. George Barker (D-39th) regarding redistricting.

"Yeah, I'm still angry at Barker for this. George Barker has single-handily screwed Prince William County," said Stewart. "And the reason is, he's got four of the five of the state Senate seats in Prince William County anchored in other counties.

"Prince William County is going to be deprived of representation in Richmond because of George Barker," he added.

Nonsense, said Barker.

"The new map as it relates in the Senate helps Prince William tremendously," said Barker. "It's actually a huge benefit to Prince William."

That back-and-forth may lead some to say, "It's a Republican and Democrat squabbling, what else did you expect?"

But this time, the issue deals with the very essence of representative democracy, not just another petty fight.

The topic: how many states senators will truly represent Prince William in the General Assembly starting next year.

Stewart says Barker diluted Prince William's power for partisan gain during the redistricting process; Barker says Prince William made enormous gains under his watch.

Barker represents parts of Prince William along the Occoquan River, from eastern Manassas to Lake Ridge, as well a swath of Fairfax County, which is a majority of the district.

His new district keeps that combination in place but also adds a section of southern Alexandria, a Democratic stronghold.

As a member of the majority party in the state Senate, Barker helped draft up the new map approved by the General Assembly and signed into law by the governor.

His first map ended up vetoed by Gov. Bob McDonnell (R), who chastised the Democrats for making an overtly partisan map.

The second one had more Republican input and McDonnell approved it.

The layout

Prince William gained one state Senate seat under the new map, boosting its delegation to five members. That extra seat, the 13th district, includes the northern most part of western Prince William County but three-fourths of it is in Loudoun County.

Former Del. Dick Black (R) won the Republican primary to represent the district last week. He faces Iraq war veteran Shawn Mitchell (D) in the general election. Both of them live in Loudoun County.

State Sen. Chuck Colgan's (D-29th) new district is within the county's borders, but it's considerably smaller while still keeping the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.

While he would not outright endorse state Colgan for a tenth term, saying he is a Republican after all, Stewart praised the Democrat as being the counter to what he deemed to be an inadequate number of senators

"Chuck Colgan's weight and stature in the General Assembly and the Senate makes up for our lack of numbers," said Stewart. "The fact of the matter is, Chuck Colgan has brought in hundreds of millions of dollars in transportation projects to Prince William County. I know he's a Democrat but it's a fact.

"And if it hadn't been for Chuck Colgan over the lack decade or two, Prince William County would not have gotten its fair share of road construction funding," Stewart added.

Colgan faces Bristow resident Thomas Gordy (R) in the fall.

Stewart noted that Gordy has not called him or sought his advice yet in the race, leading Stewart to say, "so as far as I'm concerned, I've got nothing to say about that race."

The new lines for the 28th district, represented by state Sen. Richard Stuart (R), includes parts of western Haymarket, Gainesville and Nokesville along the Fauquier County border. It then takes up a massive section of Brentsville and Forest Park before heading into Stafford County.

Yet, Stafford is the primary base of the district, which also includes parts of Spotsylvania and King George County.

State Sen. Toddy Puller's (D-36th) district is south and east of Barker's, running along the Potomac River and includes parts of Fairfax, Prince William and Stafford counties.

This district is the basis for one disagreement between Barker and Stewart.

Barker contends her district is strong for a Democrat given that a majority of the population, at 56 percent, actually comes from minority demographic groups.

At a time when other Fairfax-area Democrats needed to be strengthened, Stewart contended that Barker still could have made Puller's district stronger, especially since it now includes parts of Republican-leaning Stafford.

"The Democratic leadership under George Barker threw Toddy under the bus," said Stewart.

"Actually, Corey's definitely wrong," said Barker. "It's essentially the same as it was in terms of partisanship... In no sense was Toddy thrown under the bus."

The facts

So who's right in all of this?

Barker is right that Puller's district is based primarily in Prince William County as there are more Prince William precincts in the district than there are in either Fairfax or Stafford.

However, the incumbent lives in Fairfax County. Her general election opponent, former Del. Jeff Frederick (R), lives in Prince William.

If he wins and Colgan wins, then Prince William will have two state senators that live in the county, up for the current tally of one.

There is a trade off though: Puller has seniority in the state Senate; Frederick would be a freshman. Veterans typically have much more sway in Richmond than newcomers.

If Republicans win back control of the upper chamber though, and Frederick was part of that new majority, then he would potentially have more power than Puller would in the minority.

Stewart is counting on this scenario playing out.

"Jeff is a wicked campaigner. Yes. He is one hell of a campaigner and if Republicans have any chance of taking the 36th senate district, it's Jeff Frederick," said Stewart. "So at the end of the day, that's what it came down to. I voted for Jeff (in the GOP primary) and I think, honestly, he's going to win."

Had either Gainesville Supervisor John Stirrup (R) or deputy clerk of the circuit court Bob FitzSimmonds (R) won the Republican primary in the 13th state Senate district, they would have been favored to win in November.

Both are county residents and both lost against Black.

That means, under the lines drafted by Barker, the county could have had three out of five state Senate candidates in the fall residing in Prince William. It now has two and only one is outright favored to win: Colgan.

"To say that you have to live somewhere in order to represent somewhere is simply wrong. And I'm a good example of that," said Barker. "I've had more legislation requested and pushed by groups in Prince William than any other legislator in the last four years."

In reality, that statistic only holds water because Colgan drafts the budget each year; he doesn't generally introduce many solo bills into the state Senate.

Ultimately, Stewart is right that Prince William is largely divided. Still, Barker insists that this is a good thing.

"Having five Senators is far, far, far more effective than having three," he said.