Gov. Kim Reynolds signs Iowa's new redistricting maps into law - Des Moines Register
Gov. Kim Reynolds on Thursday signed Iowa's new congressional and legislative boundaries into law, her office announced.
Without any public ceremony, Reynolds signature solidified the state's new political lines for the next decade.
"I am confident in how the process played out — just as the law intended, and I believe these new districts will fairly and accurately represent the citizens of Iowa for the next decade,” Reynolds said in a statement.
State lawmakers — facing a Dec. 1 deadline — approved the maps in late October after months of delay. The approved lines were a second draft drawn by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency.
More:Iowa lawmakers accept second redistricting plan, setting up next decade of politics
Iowa's decennial redistricting process is heralded as a national nonpartisan model in what is inherently a political exercise.
In approving the maps, which kept the state's largest populations centers in four distinct congressional districts, Republicans dismissed Democrats' concerns of potential gerrymandering.
"Despite years of fear-mongering about gerrymandering and claims the first map could not be improved, the Iowa Senate followed the process outlined in Iowa Code, and a more compact map with better population differences has been approved," Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, R-Ankeny, said of the vote.
The new maps will be effective beginning with the 2022 elections.
New maps pit existing lawmakers against colleagues
Dozens of state lawmakers will be forced to decide whether to seek reelection or primary one of their colleagues after being drawn into new districts.
In Congress, Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks faces a daunting choice. The 2nd Congressional District she currently represents was split roughly nearly in half into the new 1st and 3rd Districts.
Democrat Cindy Axne of West Des Moines currently represents the 3rd district. She has not announced her reelection as she weighs a potential gubernatorial bid.
The new maps also pit 58 lawmakers against at least one colleague, spread across 28 different matchups.
Local governments such as school boards and city councils take up the redistricting process next.
source: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2021/11/04/iowas-new-congressional-districts-redistricting-maps-2021-signed-into-law-gov-kim-reynolds/6193658001/
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