Minn. House Passes Plan To Redraw Political Lines
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- The Minnesota House on Friday passed a GOP plan to redraw the state's legislative district lines to reflect population changes of the last decade.
The House redistricting bill passed on a mostly party-line vote of 69-58. It's the first step in a process that appears likely to end up with a court redrawing state political boundaries, given Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton's stated insistence that he would only sign a plan that had bipartisan support.
If Dayton vetoes the Republican plan, it throws the issue to the courts. That's been the usual outcome in past redistricting cycles.
Redistricting follows the once-a-decade U.S. census and has major consequences for the prospects of both parties. Political boundaries are reconfigured to put roughly the same number of Minnesotans in each of the 134 House districts and 67 Senate districts.
The House Republican who assembled the plan that passed Friday said it was an attempt to keep cities, counties and communities of mutual interest as intact as possible. "It is a good plan that is fair to all Minnesotans," said Rep. Sarah Anderson of Plymouth.
Under the plan, more Democratic than Republican incumbents end up paired in new districts with another legislative incumbent.
Of the 20 House members who would be in the same district, 10 are Democrats paired with a fellow Democrat. Another three Democrats wind up sharing districts with Republicans, and in a single case, two Republicans end up in the same district. In the Senate, four Minneapolis Democrats land in two districts, and in southwestern Minnesota a Democrat and a Republican are put in the same district.
Senate Republicans are expected to release a legislative redistricting plan that's similar if not identical to House Republicans. GOP leaders said they'd also release their plans next week for redrawing the lines of the state's eight congressional districts.
House Democrats complained that the GOP plan wasn't sufficiently vetted with communities and groups potentially affected by it.
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