DENVER—Lawmakers would have to try to create competitive congressional districts under a measure given initial approval in the Senate on Wednesday.
Lawmakers would still have to consider all the current criteria laid out in state and federal law and numerous court cases such as keeping cities and counties intact and making the districts as compact as possible. But under the amended bill (Senate Bill 198), lawmakers would then have to, “to the extent practicable,” consider whether there’s a good mix of Republicans, Democrats and unaffiliated voters.
The original bill would have allowed lawmakers to divide up counties to make competitive districts but Majority Leader Ken Gordon, D-Denver, dropped that to gain more support. He said he wants to make sure Colorado can at least keep its two competitive districts—the 3rd in southern Colorado and West Slope and the 7th west of Denver—in the next round of redistricting in 2011.
The stakes would be higher if Colorado gained another congressional seat in the next census because more boundaries would have to be drawn.
Republican and Democratic backers of the proposal said too many representatives are elected in safe districts by the extremes in both parties which has led to gridlock in Washington.
“It’s the lack of competitive districts that have led to the polarization of politics,” said Sen. Steve Ward, R-Littleton, who’s running to replace U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo.
Senate President Peter Groff, D-Denver, said the situation prevents Congress from taking on big issues like health care and immigration, leaving it for the states to step in.
“The bulk of the folks in there don’t have to respond to the critical problems,” he said.
But House Minority Leader Andy McElhany and Sen. Bill Cadman, both Republicans from Colorado Springs, said they didn’t think it was possible to both keep cities and counties together and create competitive districts. McElhany said it wouldn’t make sense to break up Denver’s 1st Congressional District by adding parts of the suburbs or the eastern plains to it.
“I don’t know how all of that is compatible,” McElhany said.
