August 23, 2011 04:47 AM UTC

Democratic Redistricting Map Makes Coffman Quite Nervous

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE #2: By request, close-up of Larimer County after the jump below the metro Denver detail.

TUESDAY UPDATE: Bigger Democratic maps–click them to see high-resolution versions for statewide (below), and Denver metro-area detail after the jump.

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That’s the word today as Democrats have filed their proposed congressional redistricting map in court ahead of trial in October–a map that substantially remakes Rep. Mike Coffman’s solid red congressional district into a competitive and diverse district spanning the eastern suburbs of Denver. We’ve had occasion to note in the last few days how this could be very bad for him.

Meanwhile, CD-4 is drawn to redistribute some Democratic-leaning areas into other districts, including the home of CD-4’s Democratic candidate, Colorado Senate President Brandon Shaffer. While this should put to rest once and for all the silly accusation from the GOP about the process being in any way tilted in Shaffer’s favor, as you can imagine Shaffer isn’t in fact all that pleased with this map. From his release today:

It’s impossible to predict what a court will ultimately decide, but I’m confident we’ll end up with a map that’s fair and competitive.  I believe that means Longmont will remain in the Fourth congressional district. [Pols emphasis]  

Coloradans have always wanted competitive districts that allow them to hold their representatives in Congress accountable at election time.  Competitive districts ensure we have a real voice in choosing who represents us.  Maps that overreach by creating ‘Representatives for life,’ regardless of which party designed them, go against the basic principles of our democracy…

Bottom line: Republicans have submitted their “minimum disruption” map–as reported by Lynn Bartels of the Denver paper. Where Democrats assert that five out of seven seats in their proposed map are winnable by either party, even Republicans will admit very candidly that their map will, at minimum in terms of favorability to them, preserve the current 4-3 GOP majority exactly as it is. That’s what they actually mean by “minimum disruption.” Just like during the legislative battle over redistricting, the whole notion of “competitiveness,” the theme Democrats have sounded from the beginning, just isn’t in the Republican vocabulary.

In the end, these intractable differences are why we have courts–and catchers don’t call strikes.

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