The Led Legislatures: 1Congressional Boundaries Now
The GOP-led legislature’s congressional boundaries are upheld by the Kentucky Supreme Court.
Democratic arguments that the majority party’s mapmaking constituted gerrymandering in contravention of the state constitution were dismissed by the court.
Kentucky’s Supreme Court rejected Democratic arguments that the majority party’s boundary-drawing amounted to gerrymandering in violation of the state constitution on Thursday, upholding Republican-drawn boundaries for state House and congressional districts.
The court pointed out that a different plan would not have changed the Republicans’ 5-1 lead in U.S.
House seats from the Bluegrass State and would have given them almost the same lopsided advantage in Kentucky House elections.
Early in 2022, the GOP-controlled legislature overrode the vetoes of Democratic Governor Andy Beshear to approve the new district boundaries. The most recent maps were utilized in the election.
The judges described redistricting as a legislative process that is “inherently political.”
In the majority opinion, Justice Angela McCormick Bisig stated, “An expectation that apportionment will be free of partisan considerations would thus not only be unrealistic, but also inconsistent with our constitution’s assignment of responsibility for that process to an elected political body.”
The court found that Kentucky’s constitution was not broken by the once-every-ten-year mapping process. Although it maintained the lower court’s conclusion that the new borders constituted “partisan gerrymanders.,”
The Led Legislatures: 1Congressional Boundaries Now
It pointed out that the constitution does not specifically prohibit taking partisan interests into account when drawing new boundaries.
The state Democratic Party, along with a few other people, including Democratic state representative Derrick Graham, challenged the new maps. According to their lawsuit, the new boundaries reflected.
Exceedingly biased gerrymandering” that contravenes the state constitution. It stated that in order to “dilute the influence” of Democratic voters, some counties were divided into multiple districts on the state House map.
Republicans gained legislative supermajorities after the midterm elections in November of last year with the new districts in place.
The Led Legislatures: 1Congressional Boundaries Now
A number of Democratic members of the state House who had Republican-friendly territory added to their districts failed in their attempts to win reelection.
The main point of contention for democrats regarding the redrew congressional boundaries was the inclusion of Franklin County, which is home to the capital city of Frankfort in central Kentucky, in the vast 1st Congressional District, which is primarily located in western Kentucky.
Representative James Comer, a prominent Republican, represents the 1st District. Comer has been the focal point of the House GOP’s investigation into President Joe Biden’s impeachment as the House Oversight Committee’s chairman.
The Led Legislatures: 1Congressional Boundaries Now
Comer and his spouse reside in Kentucky’s Franklin and Monroe counties. When he served as state agriculture commissioner and his office was located in Frankfort, they bought the house in Franklin County.
Democrats controlled all legislative boundary-setting for decades, but after the GOP took over the state Senate, they began to share that authority.
Since Republicans took control of the legislature, the legislature had not redrew districts until last year. After the 2016 election, the GOP took over the state House.
The Republican Party secured 80 out of 100 state House seats in the previous election. The plaintiffs relied on an alternate plan that predicted Republicans would win at least 77 seats, the Court declared.
The Led Legislatures: 1Congressional Boundaries Now
Every seat matters, as Bisig pointed out in his letter. The court found that there was not a “clear, flagrant, and unwarranted” violation of constitutional rights due to a three-seat disparity in the Kentucky House of 100.
Democratic attempts to have Kentucky’s congressional and state House maps invalidated were rightfully rejected by the Supreme Court, according to state GOP spokesman Sean Southard.
Democratic leaders in the Kentucky House expressed their disagreement with the verdict.
“It guarantees more political polarization for decades to come and gives legislative majorities much more authority to protect themselves at the expense of many voters,” they stated in a statement.
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