Panel releases Minnesota’s new redistricting plans

(KSTP) – Minnesota’s judicial redistricting panel released the state’s new congressional and legislative maps that will take effect for this year’s midterm elections.

The state’s current balance of four Republican and four Democratic representatives in the U.S. House could be thrown for a loop with a radical shift in geography for the 2nd Congressional District, which by far had the most competitive race in 2020.

Democratic Rep. Angie Craig won reelection by less than 10,000 votes and will now have to contend with the loss of Goodhue and Wabasha counties and the addition of Le Sueur County in her campaign for a third term, which she announced on Tuesday.

“While I am, of course, disappointed that the new boundaries do not include all of the cities and towns that I currently represent in Congress, I look forward to being the voice of several new communities across Minnesota,” Craig said in a statement. “I look forward to earning voters’ support across the new MN-02 and ensuring that they have a voice in Washington who prioritizes them over special interests and works to find common ground.”

The changes to the 1st Congressional District spanning Minnesota’s southern edge are more or less the inverse of the alterations to the 2nd District’s map. The territory now represented by Republican Rep. Jim Hagedorn will extend to Goodhue and Wabasha counties but loses Cottonwood County and part of Brown County to the 7th District.

The 8th Congressional District, currently represented by Republican Rep. Pete Stauber, also underwent significant boundary shifts. The district’s geographic footprint has been expanded to include all of the state’s Native American reservations and the northern half of Washington County. That means Stauber will have to campaign in a district that extends from Angle Inlet all the way south to Stillwater Township.

That chunk of Washington County was reapportioned from Republican Rep. Tom Emmer’s 6th Congressional District, and the geography of the White Earth Nation and Red Lake Nation was formerly part of Republican Rep. Michelle Fischbach’s 7th Congressional District. The 7th District gained Morrison County and part of Hubbard County, while the 6th District now encompasses all of Carver County.

The 3rd Congressional District — represented by Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips in the west metro — lost the northeastern portion of Carver County that includes Chanhassen, Chaska, Laketown and Victoria and is now almost entirely contained to Hennepin County, with the exception of Anoka, Coon Rapids and a sliver of Ramsey.

However, Hopkins is now wrapped into the 3rd District. The second-ring Minneapolis suburb was once part of the 5th Congressional District, the home of Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar. Her district boundaries were unchanged otherwise.

To the east, Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum’s 4th Congressional District was slimmed down in its profile, ceding Newport to the 2nd Congressional District in the south and a chunk of Stillwater Township to the 8th Congressional District in the north.

The full congressional map can be seen below:

Appendix-A-Congressional-MapsDownload

The changes to Minnesota’s legislative map are much more minuscule and require more analysis. But before commenting on the result of the new House and Senate maps, DFL party leadership expressed gratitude for public testimony that went into the redistricting process.

“I am grateful to Minnesota’s Special Redistricting Panel for its hard work and diligence,” DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin said. “The Panel’s collection of public testimony from both individuals and communities across Minnesota was essential to the difficult and meticulous process of crafting state legislative and congressional maps.”

The full legislative maps can be seen below:

Appendix-A-Legislative-Maps