Republican and Democrats Release Competing Political District Maps
By Andrew Doughman
CARSON CITY – State Republicans and Democrats today released their proposals for new state legislative political districts.
The competing proposals for state Assembly and Senate districts both keep the Legislature at its current size of 63 legislators.
The Democratic proposal, however, includes Senate districts inside of which are nested two Assembly districts. Democrats said they introduced “nesting” in order to simplify and harmonize how Nevadans are represented at the state levels.
The proposal could also save thousands of dollars, said Larry Lomax, Clark County Registrar of Voters.
“The more the lines coincide … the less ballot styles you create,” Lomax said. “The fewer number of ballot styles you have, the cheaper it is to do your printing.”
Lomax said that his office printed 307 different types of ballots for the 2010 general elections in Clark County.
Democrats have also touted how their maps include Assembly districts that are, as much as possible, bounded by the borders of cities.
The Republican and Democratic plans represent the first takes in what could be a lengthy process to hammer out a compromise between a Republican governor and a Democratic-controlled Legislature. If the two parties cannot reach a compromise, the drawing of political districts could end up in the hands of Nevada’s judges.
Both proposals also eliminate Clark County’s two dual-districts, which legislators and constituents alike had criticized.
Democrats and Republicans also responded to population shifts to Clark County in the same manner. The two political parties agreed to eliminate the seats of Sen. Greg Brower, R-Reno, and Assemblyman Pete Goicoechea, R-Eureka.
Growth in the southern part of the state meant that current districts are imbalanced and one northern Senate seat and one northern Assembly seats became southern seats in the new proposals.
Brower recently declared his intention to run for Congress and Goicoechea is expected to run for state Senate in rural Nevada, where Sen. Dean Rhoads, R-Tuscarora, must leave the Senate due to term limits.
Democrats and Republicans drawing the boundaries of political districts have to follow rules culled from a variety of past court decisions:
All districts must be nearly the same size. Map drawers use the U.S. Census total population figures for Nevada and divide those by the number of districts so that each district has an ideal size. The ideal size for an Assembly seat is about 64,300 people and about 128,600 people for a Senate seat.
Republicans and Democrats must also try to follow as closely as possible the boundaries of cities and counties when drawing maps. Natural boundaries like rivers and man-made boundaries like highways can also serve as convenient boundaries.
The political parties are also generally prevented from drawing incumbent legislators out of their districts.
Finally, the two political parties must consider “communities of interest” when creating political districts. This could prevent rural Nevadans from suddenly being thrown in the same district as urban Nevadans, or keeping a distinct downtown community separate from a suburban community.