by Beecher Threatt
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On Monday the Colorado Supreme Court issued a ruling approving new state senate and house district maps, as resubmitted by the Colorado Reapportionment Commission on Dec. 5 after the first submission was rejected by the Court.
While the new senate district map does not change the boundaries of District 6, in which Ouray County lies and represented by Ellen Roberts (R-Durango), the new house map does bring change for the county. Beginning in 2012, Ouray County will be in District 59, currently represented by J. Paul Brown (R-Ignacio). The county is now... in District 58, represented by Don Coram (R-Montrose).
The reapportionment commission has 11 members: four legislative leaders, three persons appointed by the Governor and four persons appointed by the Chief Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court. The current commission has five Republicans and five Democrats, and the chair is unaffiliated. The vote on the maps eventually approved by the Supreme Court was 6-5 along party lines, with the chair voting with the Democrats.
In a statement issued Monday, State Rep. Matt Jones (D-Louisville), a member of the commission, hailed the Court decision. "We fully complied with the Court's mandate for maps that respect county and city boundaries," he said. "We worked for seven months, first to comply with the state constitutional requirements and then to maximize the number of competitive seats. Now we have 35 of them, which will give more Coloradans the opportunity to make real choices."
Colorado Senate Minority Leader Bill Cadman (R-Colorado Springs) released the following statement: “It is disappointing to see the Supreme Court validate such blatantly partisan and politically vindictive maps. It is clear that the reapportionment process in Colorado is broken and in need of reform. I am now considering sponsoring a bill for the 2012 session to address this problem.”
The Court's ruling followed its rejection of an attack on newly-drawn congressional maps last month, widely viewed as a victory for Democrats. District 3, currently represented by Scott Tipton (R-Cortez), became more competitive. Part of Eagle County was added to District 3, and Las Animas County was removed. State representative Sal Pace (D-Pueblo) has announced he will challenge Tipton for that seat next year.
In redrawing state house and senate districts every 10 years, the commission must achieve equal (less than five percent deviation) population among the districts, give minority groups equal opportunity to participate and elect candidates of their choice, make a district's area as compact as possible, not split cities and counties unless necessary and preserve communities of interest in a single district when possible.