Colorado leads U.S. states with first look at new congressional
districts
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[June 18, 2021]
By Julia Harte
(Reuters) - An independent commission in
Colorado will reveal a preliminary map of new congressional districts
next week, putting the state at the forefront of efforts to draw battle
lines for the 2022 U.S. election and strip party politics from the
process.
With Democrats holding a slim 10-seat majority in the U.S. House of
Representatives, the once-a-decade redistricting underway across the
country is being closely watched for clues about which party could gain
an advantage heading into next year's high-stakes midterm contests.
Colorado will release its initial map on Wednesday, the first state to
do so this year. For the first time, an independent redistricting
commission in the state is drawing the lines, offering an aggressively
non-partisan approach in contrast to most states where lawmakers in the
majority produce maps favoring their party.
"Colorado is modeling how the country could be governing itself in the
future," said Kathay Feng, the national redistricting director for
good-government watchdog Common Cause.
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"It is an explicit rejection of the scorched-earth tactic that has been
used by some party leaders, a way of demonstrating that we can bring
people back to the table and make democracy work," Feng said.
States' redrawing of congressional and state legislative districts has
been complicated this year by the coronavirus pandemic and the change in
presidential administrations, which delayed the release of the U.S.
Census data used for the maps.
Election analysts fear that could make it easier for state lawmakers to
engage in gerrymandering, the process by which electoral lines are
deliberately skewed to benefit one political party over another.
A NEW APPROACH
Colorado's state legislature previously was responsible for
congressional redistricting, a model that is still the norm in 39
states. But two 2018 amendments to the state constitution made it one of
several states that now rely on independent redistricting commissions to
reduce partisanship.
As a result of the 2018 reform, Colorado's commission - comprised of
four Democratic voters, four Republican voters and four unaffiliated
voters - will redraw the districts from scratch, not taking into
consideration existing districts or the home residences of Colorado's
incumbent U.S. representatives.
They must keep new districts equal in population and contiguous; avoid
splitting cities, counties or other communities that share common
interests; and make the new districts as compact and politically
competitive as possible.
The preliminary map will be based on U.S. Census survey data from 2015
through 2019, as well as municipal-level data from the state
demographer's office and a list of addresses used to send out U.S.
Census forms.
After releasing the map, drawn by non-partisan staff, the commission
will elicit public feedback in hearings around the state. It will then
incorporate more granular census data, expected to be released on Aug.
16, to produce a final map that can be submitted to the state Supreme
Court by a Nov. 1 deadline.
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![](../images/061821PIX/news_a1.jpg)
Mail-in ballots are processed and counted for the upcoming
presidential election in Denver, Colorado, U.S., October 22, 2020.
REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt/File Photo
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Reflecting the state's population growth over the
past decade, an eighth seat will be added to Colorado's U.S. House
delegation, which currently includes four Democrats and three
Republicans.
State data from the past decade shows the Denver area has seen
Colorado's biggest population gain. The biggest decline has been in
the eastern plains, a Republican stronghold represented in Congress
by Freedom Caucus co-founder Ken Buck.
One plausible redistricting scenario could leave Buck's home outside
his current district, said Dave Wasserman, a non-partisan analyst
with the Cook Political Report. That would not prevent Buck from
running for re-election, but it could prompt other Republicans to
challenge him in the primary election.
Lauren Boebert, a hardline Republican who won her 2020 race by 6
percentage points, the closest congressional margin in the state,
also could face slightly tougher re-election odds if her district
gains some liberal pockets, Wasserman said.
He predicted Colorado's public feedback period could move the needle
"quite a bit" on the final map and that interest groups could fight
over where the new district should go.
Scott Martinez, a lawyer who drew congressional redistricting maps
for Democrats that were used in 2001 and 2011, said he was
optimistic for a fair outcome in Colorado, a former swing state that
has trended Democratic in recent presidential elections.
He said he would watch the commissioners carefully, given they are
new to the redistricting process and lack the accountability state
lawmakers have to their electorates.
"My hope is that the benevolence of these commissioners finds a way
to grant equality to our ethnic minorities, but there's no mandate
on them to do so," he said.
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Alan Philp, a consultant who has facilitated Republicans'
redistricting efforts in Colorado and worked on the campaign for the
2018 redistricting reform, said the commissioners understood the
solemnity of their job.
"They know the eyes of the nation are on Colorado to see if we can
be a success at ending gerrymandering and drawing fair districts,"
he said.
(Reporting by Julia Harte; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Daniel
Wallis)
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