The Colorado Independent Redistricting Commission issued a second proposed redistricting map last week. An interactive map of the entire state may be seen here.
The new maps have significantly revised the newly created District 8 to include the I-85 corridor communities from north Denver to Greeley, including Commerce City, Northglenn, Henderson, Brighton, Lochbuie, Fort Lupton, Firestone, Frederick, Dacono, Platteville, Gilcrest, Milliken, Johnstown and Greeley. Other significant changes have been made in the mountain and southern counties as well. The preliminary proposed Congressional redistricting map that was released in June may be seen here for comparison.
We have heard that local Republicans are organizing to speak against this second revision because it breaks up the majority power that Republicans have had with CD-4. The new map separates rural Weld County (remember the “secede and join Wyoming” kerfuffle they attempted recently?) from Greeley, one of the fastest growing metro areas in the United States.
From msn.com:
The fastest growing city in Colorado is the Greeley metro area. Its population grew by 32.1% from 2010 to 2020 to 333,983 residents. During that same time, the population of Colorado grew by 15.5%, and the U.S. population increased by 6.7%.
Does Greeley deserve a rightful place in the new Eighth District? Of course it does!
People who live in other parts of the state can download specific maps of each district here.
From the Redistricting Commission website at colorado.gov:
1The Colorado Constitution uses the same definition of “community of interest” for congressional and legislative redistricting. For the congressional commission, this can be found at Section 44 (3)(b), Article V. The equivalent language for the legislative commission is at Section 46 (3)(b) and noted in brackets below:
(I) "Community of interest" means any group in Colorado that shares one or more substantial interests that may be the subject of federal [state] legislative action, is composed of a reasonably proximate population, and thus should be considered for inclusion within a single district for purposes of ensuring its fair and effective representation.
(II) Such interests include but are not limited to matters reflecting:
(A) Shared public policy concerns of urban, rural, agricultural, industrial, or trade areas; and
(B) Shared public policy concerns such as education, employment, environment, public health, transportation, water needs and supplies, and issues of demonstrable regional significance.
(III) Groups that may comprise a community of interest include racial, ethnic, and language minority groups, subject to compliance with subsections (1)(b) and (4)(b) of section 44.3 [48.1] of this article V, which subsections protect against the denial or abridgement of the right to vote due to a person's race or language minority group.
(IV) "Community of interest" does not include relationships with political parties, incumbents, or political candidates.
This Congressional map is important and will impact elections for the next 10 years. Colorado residents may comment online at redistricting.colorado.gov/…
Comments from the people of Colorado resulted in the changes reflected in the above map from the preliminary plan in June.
*Note — The above discussion and maps pertain to the congressional redistricting. At the time of this writing, the second draft of legislative maps had not yet been released.