By Andrew Doughman, Nevada News Bureau: State legislative Democrats plan to be the first to reveal their proposals for redrawing political boundaries of Nevada’s Assembly and Senate this Thursday.
Democrats will introduce maps of the proposed boundaries and then debate their suggestions together with Republicans in the Assembly chambers during the evening, said Speaker John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas.
The unveiling of the maps represents the first public look at what promises to be a contentious debate about the state’s political districts.
Senator David Parks, D-Las Vegas, said that the first maps will most likely show districts that reflect the Legislature’s current size of 21 Senators and 42 Assembly members.
As such, the maps should reflect a shift of one Senate seat and one or two Assembly seats to Clark County, reflecting the growth in population in that county. The Senate map may also show changes to the state’s two dual-districts, which Parks and others have earlier said will likely go extinct with this round of redistricting.
Senate and Assembly Republicans have not yet said whether they will join Democratic leadership in presenting proposed redistricting maps on Thursday.
“At this point we don’t have any maps to bring,” said Assembly Minority Leader Pete Goicoechea, R-Fallon.
Oceguera said he expects the Legislature to unveil and debate proposed Congressional maps sometime next week. Those maps will show the addition of a fourth Congressional district added to Nevada due to population growth during the past decade.
The proposed districts could affect many Nevadans. People currently living in predominantly Democratic districts could find themselves drawn into predominantly Republican districts. Rural Nevadans could find their voices drowned out by being in a largely urban district.
Nevada’s Legislature must redraw the boundaries of its political districts every 10 years with the release of U.S. Census Data.
