How an obscure legal issue has found its way into the GOP race
“In a Republican primary that has been dominated by sound bites, a complicated legal issue has found its way to the fore of the campaign: eminent domain.
The procedure allowing governments to seize land for public projects has been the focus of an ongoing dispute between Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and front-runner Donald Trump. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) also has weighed in on the issue, issuing yard signs boasting that he “stands against eminent domain abuse.”
The topic could resonate in the first voting states of New Hampshire and Iowa, where companies have run into stiff opposition after floating the idea of using eminent domain for pipelines or other projects. Eminent domain is a particularly hot issue for many conservative and libertarian-leaning voters, who want to limit the power of government to encroach on personal property.
“It’s not a major issue for most voters because it doesn’t come up and impact most voters,” said Andrew E. Smith, a professor of political science at the University of New Hampshire. “But when it does raise its head . . . it all of a sudden becomes a very important thing.”
Eminent domain is the process under which governments can take private property for public use. In 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that a local government can force the sale of property if it thinks the transaction would foster economic development and help the public.
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On Saturday, Trump also talked about how eminent domain was necessary in Pella, Iowa, where many landowners strongly oppose the prospect of the government taking land for a new regional airport.
Eminent domain is a contentious issue in other parts of Iowa as well. Last year, Gov. Terry Branstad (R) said he supported the use of eminent domain for some pipeline projects. One proposal would carry 570,000 barrels of crude oil per day from North Dakota, cutting across 18 Iowa counties. A $2 million transmission line to send wind energy from Iowa to Illinois also included the use of eminent domain; last year, the project was put on hold while the company behind it figures out how to move forward.
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New Hampshire has a long history of resisting eminent domain. In 2006, voters amended the state constitution to prohibit the state from taking land from one private owner and giving it to another. In the southern part of the state, homeowners are concerned that their land could be taken by energy giant Kinder Morgan, which has plans for a gas pipeline.
In 2012, former governor John Lynch (D) signed a law blocking utility companies from using eminent domain for certain projects, a law aimed at the contentious Northern Pass project, which seeks to string power lines from Quebec through New Hampshire, connecting a Canadian hydroelectric plant to New England’s power grid.
A 2012 poll from the University of New Hampshire’s Survey Center — paid for by a rival of the Northern Pass project — showed that 74 percent of surveyed independent voters, New Hampshire’s largest bloc, opposed eminent domain, as did 67 percent of Republicans.”
Zezima, Katie. Washington Post 25 January 2016.