The Colorado Supreme Court heard arguments from Republicans Thursday challenging the November decision by District Court Judge Robert Hyatt who selected a Democrat-proposed map that redraws district lines making several GOP districts more competitive.
UPDATE:
The Colorado Supreme Court this morning upheld the Democrats' redistricting map, reports the Denver Post. A written opinion from the Supreme Court is forthcoming.
EARLIER:
The Denver Post reports that Republicans called for the Colorado Supreme Court to overturn Judge Hyatt's decision. "The trial court was manifestly unreasonable and should be reversed," GOP attorney Richard Westfall said. The controversy stems from the Democrat-submitted map that splits Douglas County and moves Larimer County into the same district as Boulder.
Mark Grueskin, an attorney representing the Democrats, blasted the GOP argument saying, "it wasn't even credible," CBS4 reports.
The Denver Post has put together a helpful graphic map of the new district boundaries, click here to view.
Under the new map, Republican Rep. Mike Coffman's district, which has been in GOP hands for years, would suddenly be more competitive due to its inclusion of the entire city of Aurora, instead of just the more rural end, putting more urban voters who tend to vote for Democrats into Coffman's district, 9news reports.
Colorado Republcains have held Coffman's 6th district in Denver's southern suburbs since it was created in the 1980s, according to 7News.
No ruling was made after the arguments were heard. A new map must be decided upon by Dec. 14 to start 2012 election preparation.
Congressional boundaries are redrawn every 10 years by the state legislature to accurately reflect population changes, but when the 2011 legislature failed to agree on new district lines this spring both political parties filed lawsuits, 9News reports.
Maps prepared by Reapportionment Commission Staff, Nov. 14, 2011, Colorado.gov:
Related
Before You Go
