Redistricting plan impacts numerous Iowa House, Senate districts

More than half of the 50 seats in the Iowa Senate and nearly half of the 100 seats in the Iowa House are impacted by the new proposed legislative reapportionment map issued today by the Legislative Services Agency.

A total of 14 senators reside together in districts with more than one other incumbent in the newly configured Senate map, while another seven districts now have no incumbent, according to an analysis by the Senate Democratic caucus staff of the first proposed LSA redistricting map. Democrats currently hold a 26-24 majority in the Iowa Senate.

In the House, where Republicans enjoy a 60-40 edge, the number of current representatives in districts with more than one incumbent totals 27, while another 14 districts have no current incumbents residing in those areas, according to a House Democratic staff analysis.

There are three new Senate districts with incumbents of more than one party, three where GOP incumbents are paired together and one where Democratic incumbents are pared together.

On the House side, there is one district with incumbents of more than one party, three where Democratic incumbents are paired together and nine where paired GOP incumbents reside in the same districts.

The new legislative district boundaries reflect population shifts from rural areas to urban centers and surrounding suburban communities based on the 2010 census data. Iowa law provides that no legislative district should vary from the ideal population size by more than 1 percent.

A special five-member Temporary Redistricting Advisory Commission will conduct public hearings next week in Council Bluffs, Bettendorf, Cedar Rapids and Des Moines to gather comments on the proposed new districts before making a recommendation to the split control Legislature and Republican Gov. Terry Branstad.

Either the House or the Senate or Branstad can reject the initial LSA proposal.

The earliest that lawmakers expect to take action on the first plan would be April 14.

“We intend to take our time reviewing the first map to ensure that it meets all the constitutional and legal requirements,” Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, D-Council Bluffs, said in a statement. "Once a new map is approved, Democrats are ready to regain control of the Iowa House and expand our majority in the Iowa Senate."

The legislative verdict is an up-or-down vote on the proposed reapportionment plan without amending it. If the first draft is rejected, LSA drafters must submit a second proposal for redrawing congressional and legislative districts within 21 days, and the process is repeated. The third proposal, if needed, can be changed if the Legislature and governor have not reached an agreement by that point.

The Iowa Supreme Court would step in and redraw the districts if no agreement is reached on the third plan by Sept. 1 and passed into law by Sept. 15.

In 1981, the Legislature approved the third redistricting plan. In 1991, the first plan was accepted. In 2001, the reapportionment process was completed on the second try.