Colorado redistricting wraps with new statehouse maps

Democrats will be favored to maintain their statehouse majorities under new state House and Senate district lines approved Monday morning by the Colorado Supreme Court.

With new congressional district lines having been approved earlier this month, Monday’s ruling all but concludes the state’s once-a-decade redistricting process.

This year marked the first time the state has used independent redistricting commissions — one for the statehouse, one for Congress — that comprise equal numbers of Democrats, Republicans and independents. Voters requested that setup when they approved two ballot measures in 2018 that were meant to reduce the possibility of partisan gerrymandering in the state.

The court’s ruling states: “(T)he Commission, its nonpartisan staff, its outside counsel, and numerous members of the public, interested parties, and their counsel worked tirelessly to ensure that the process worked as the people of Colorado intended, and the court expresses its gratitude to all those who participated in this process for their exceptional efforts in these most extraordinary of times.”

The final Colorado state Senate map as approved Monday, Nov. 15, 2021, by the Colorado Supreme Court. (Via the Colorado Independent Legislative Redistricting Commission)one of the commission’s mandates was to promote competitiveness, and the new maps show the state Senate, where Democrats now hold a 20-15 advantage, could be especially competitive.

There are 35 Senate districts, each with about 165,000 people, and under the new map only 12 of the 35 districts lean in Republicans’ favor, according to a summary of recent election results.

But 11 districts are projected to land within 7.1 percentage points. Five districts are projected under 3 points, and two districts — District 15 in Larimer and Boulder counties and District 16 in Jefferson and Arapahoe counties — are projected to be toss-ups.

There are 65 House districts, each with about 88,000 people. Democrats hold 41 seats now, and recent election results indicate the party would have an advantage in 42 seats under the new district lines. But 15 districts are projected to be separated by 7.4 or fewer percentage points. District 18 in El Paso County and District 61 in Arapahoe County are projected to be toss-ups.

The final Colorado state House map as approved Monday, Nov. 15, 2021, by the Colorado Supreme Court. (Via the Colorado Independent Legislative Redistricting Commission)the new map for Colorado’s eight U.S. House of

Representatives districts preserves (and in some cases increases) partisan advantages for each of the state’s seven incumbent congresspeople: Republicans Lauren Boebert, Ken Buck and Doug Lamborn, and Democrats Jason Crow, Diana Degette, Joe Neguse and Ed Perlmutter. All are expected to seek reelection in 2022.

A new 8th District, in the suburbs north of Denver, was granted to Colorado due to population growth here over the last decade. It’s expected to be the most competitive of the bunch next year.