State Panel OKs 11 Competitive Senate Districts
DENVER (AP) - One-third of the races in Colorado's split Legislature could be up for grabs in 2012 under new legislative districts approved Monday, setting the stage for a nail-bitter of an election year.
The proposed maps would make 11 of the 35 seats in the Senate competitive and 22 of the House's 65 seats would be in that category, too. Although both parties were unhappy about some aspects of the maps, commissioner from both sides said the suggested districts would give Democrats and Republicans a shot in either chamber.
"I think either party can win either map," said former state Rep. Rob Witwer, a Republican member of the bipartisan 11-member commission that approved the maps.
"I think it's pretty close to a toss-up," said Democratic Sen. Morgan Carroll, another commissioner.
State legislative districts are redrawn every 10 years to account for population changes and the process can have big implications for either party. In Colorado's split Legislature, Democrats currently have a five-seat advantage in the Senate, and Republicans hold a one-seat edge in the House.
The approved maps also account for the Hispanic population's explosive growth since 2000. Of the 100 seats in the Legislature, 24 would be districts where at least 30 percent of voters are Hispanic.
The maps were drawn by Mario Carrera, the only unaffiliated member and the group's chairman.
"Competition should be an idea that both Democrats and Republicans should embrace," said Carrera, the vice president and general manager of Entravision Communications in Colorado. He noted that about a third of the state is unaffiliated.
"With 33 competitive districts, both Democrats and Republicans will have to work hard for a majority in both chambers," he said.
A competitive seat was defined by the commission to be one where parties where within 10 percentage points of each other in the 2010 statewide treasurer's race. Districts where parties where within 5 points of each other were considered highly competitive.
Carrera said that of the 33 competitive seats, 17 are considered highly competitive -- seven in the Senate and 10 in the House.
Commissioners approved the Senate map on a 9-2 vote and the House map on an 8-3 vote. Republicans were the only no votes in each case. The maps will be submitted for approval to the state Supreme Court by Oct. 7 and the proposals can still be challenged.
Republican Mario Nicolais was one of the most vocal critics of either map and blasted the House proposal in particular, saying it did not meet constitutional criteria for drawing new districts. The guidelines include keeping communities of interest together and keeping cities and towns whole.
Nicolais said commissioners should have focused on those guidelines first before competitiveness, saying "competitiveness is too vague to use as a factor." He said a 10 point-difference should not be considered competitive, which prompted a sharp rebuke from Carrera.
"I'm actually shocked about what you just said," Carrera said, adding that Nicolais had previously sent him an email stating that he considered districts within that margin competitive.
Nicolais said after the meeting that he believes Democrats will easily overtake Republicans in the House because of the map.
Republican House Speaker Frank McNulty said the map approved for his chamber fell "short of the bar of being a fair map," but said it was a better proposal than the map approved 10 years ago, which influenced a Democratic takeover of the House for the first time in four decades.
"The approved map does put several lawmakers in more competitive seats," McNulty said.
One seat in Jefferson County will pit two House incumbents against each other -- Democratic Rep. Andy Kerr and Republican Rep. Ken Summers. Republicans said the approved map will put Summers at a disadvantage of 8 percentage points.
"It gives one candidate a huge head start," said Witwer, who voted against the House map.
Other aspects of Carrera's maps included giving Jefferson County three Senate seats, and preventing part of a southwest Denver Senate district from being put with the gaming communities of Clear Creek and Gilpin counties. In the House, Carrera drew eight seats in the Republican stronghold of El Paso County, put Grand County on the Western Slope, and put the Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute tribes in separate districts.
Fifteen of the districts with a large Hispanic voting bloc are in the House, and nine would in the Senate. Hispanics would make up at least half of the voters in seven House districts and two Senate districts.
The Latino population was the fastest growing in the state during the last decade and now stands at 20 percent, compared to 17 percent in 2000.
- By Ivan Moreno, AP Writer
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
