After Tiff, Republicans Offer 'Minor Tweaks' To Redistricting Proposal
By Andrew Doughman
CARSON CITY — State legislative Republicans have changed their proposals for new state Assembly districts.
The boundaries of some proposed districts were altered today after Assembly Minority Leader Pete Goicoechea, R-Eureka, publicly criticized Senate Republicans for their maps.
“We tried to resolve their concerns,” said Sen. James Settelmeyer, R-Gardnerville. “We heard their issues and concerns and sat down with them.”
Goicoechea said earlier today that the “minor tweaks” to the maps satisfied him.
“They made us a lot happier,” he said.
The amended maps show more boundaries that run along county lines in rural counties and in Washoe county.
Settelmeyer said these changes would mean rural legislators would represent fewer counties. That change allows lawmakers to travel to fewer county meetings in districts that already span hundreds of miles.
The Republicans’ proposal for Clark County Assembly districts largely stays the same.
The two Republican caucuses had drawn separate maps, but Assembly Republicans decided to shelve their proposal after a lawyer recommended that they keep it private.
The lawyer said the proposed map did not correspond with the federal Voting Rights Act, which governs how racial minorities are treated in the redistricting process.
Goicoechea said they would go along with the Senate’s proposals and adopt those as their own.
The proposed maps now also show streets, highways and bodies of water, which should make it easier for Nevadans to analyze the districts.
The updated maps also show district numbers that reflect the current numbers. The earlier maps had changed every district number, which means that no legislator could be deemed an incumbent or use the word “reelect” in a campaign.
Settelmeyer said the original intent had been to ignore incumbents and purely look at data while drawing maps.
Now that the maps are out, however, the numbers have been changed back, he said.
“It makes it easier for people to understand which numbers are which, so it helps eliminate some of the confusion,” he said.
The Nevada Legislature must draw new political districts every 10 years following population statistics released by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The updated proposals can be viewed here.