December 12, 2011 11:56 PM UTC

Legislative Reapportionment Maps Affirmed By Colorado Supreme Court

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE #4: FOX 31’s Eli Stokols has reaction from Colorado GOP chairman Ryan Call:

“I am incredibly disappointed that the Supreme Court has chosen to ignore countless hours of public testimony and rubber-stamp the Democrats’ highly partisan maps,” said Colorado GOP Chairman Ryan Call.

“The reapportionment process is clearly broken; it allowed the Democrats to game the system using heavy handed tactics to run out the clock at the expense of the citizens of Colorado.”

Senate Minority Leader Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs, also issued a press release Monday afternoon and said he’s considering running legislation in 2012 to change the reapportionment process…

As bad as it sounds, Call adds hopefully in his full statement:

“Despite the flawed district maps, I am confident that with our winning message of economic growth and job creation, Republicans will expand our majority in the House and take back the Senate.”

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UPDATE #3: Statement from Colorado Democratic Party chairman Rick Palacio:

“Today’s ruling guarantees Colorado voters competitive districts that pressure legislators to look beyond their political bases. These new districts will favor representatives who are accountable and responsive, and Democrats will field candidates who fit this profile. With a legislature committed to working to benefit all Coloradans, I am confident we will make great progress as a state in the decade to come.”

And this from Rep. Matt Jones, a Democrat on the reapportionment commission:

“We fully complied with the court’s mandate for maps that respect county and city boundaries,” Rep.  Jones (D-Louisville) 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.

“I’m happy this process is complete, and we know where our district boundaries are and will be for the next decade. Now we can turn our attention to our top priority — serving the people of Colorado in the upcoming legislative session.”

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UPDATE #2: As affirmed, your legislative battlegrounds for the next ten years:

House Resubmitted Plan F–details here

Senate Resubmitted Plan E–details here

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UPDATE: AP’s Ivan Moreno:

The Colorado Supreme Court approved Democratic-drawn legislative districts Monday that force key Republican incumbents to face off next year if they want to be re-elected…

Pairing Republican incumbents in contests could increase Democrats’ five-vote advantage in the Senate and jeopardize the GOP’s one-vote edge in the House.

State districts are redrawn every decade to reflect population changes. The criteria used for drawing maps includes keeping cities, towns and communities of interest together and avoiding diluting minority voting power.

Democrats insisted they were following the state Supreme Court’s order to minimize county and city splits. They said the incumbent pairings were not politically inspired, but the result of having to follow the court guidelines.

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Democrats triumph, 2-0 in 2011’s redistricting/reapportionment battles. Details coming shortly.