The lone unaffiliated voter on a commission charged with redrawing legislative boundaries plans to submit his own map after criticizing how Republicans and Democrats divvied up Arapahoe and Jefferson counties.
Mario Carrera made the announcement Monday after reviewing maps for Senate and House boundaries submitted by Republican and Democratic commissioners.
“I am working feverishly to make sure that we have a map that can be a consolidation of both Republican and Democratic considerations,” he said.
Carrera chairs the Colorado Reapportionment Commission. In decisions that split along party lines — the remainder of the commission includes five Republicans and five Democrats — he has been the powerful swing vote.
Carrera has made clear that he wants to try to create as many competitive districts as possible.
GOP commissioner Bob Loevy of Colorado Springs agreed. Loevy said El Paso County is such a strong GOP performer that each district could be drawn to make it a safe Republican seat, and “that’s what the commission did for its first 20 years.”
Loevy said he supports making some districts in El Paso County seats that Democrats can win, which is why he voted with Democrats on that issue.
During the commission’s review of both parties’ maps on Monday, Carrera said Republicans were correct in putting Grand County in a House district on the Western Slope, but he sided with Democrats that southwest Denver doesn’t belong in a Senate district with Gilpin and Clear Creek counties.
In the case of Arapahoe and Jefferson counties, he didn’t like what either party has proposed. But he pointed out there was much that both sides already have agreed on, and other commissioners, too, pushed for a compromise.
“I would love to see us come together and be able to vote on a map that basically is an 11-0 vote on the House and Senate plans,” said GOP commissioner Steve Tool, a former lawmaker from Larimer County.
At one point, GOP commissioner Mario Nicolais of Jefferson County chided Democrats for the legislative House district they drew that includes two Lakewood incumbents, Democrat Andy Kerr and Republican Ken Summers. Republicans also paired the two, but he said their map doesn’t favor one candidate.
“I’m incredibly irate,” Nicolais said.
But Democratic commissioner Dolores Atencio said the way Democrats drew the district falls within Nicolais’ earlier definition of a competitive district.
Legislative boundaries must be redrawn every 10 years to reflect population shifts documented by the U.S. census.
The panel meets next Monday to vote on boundaries and has set an Oct. 7 deadline to turn in a map to the state Supreme Court for review.
Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327 or lbartels@denverpost.com
