New look maps change legislative, congressional districts in Bemidji area

ST. PAUL - New political district maps released today show little U.S. House change, but more in the Minnesota Legislature, where 46 of 201 lawmakers were put in districts with other incumbents.

For rural Minnesota, it was no surprise that congressional and legislative districts grew geographically as people moved to suburban districts as a five-judge panel struggled to keep the same population in each district.

In the U.S. House, relatively little change was in order as a five-judge panel released new political maps, although former presidential candidate U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann said she would seek re-election to a northern Twin Cities district, even though she no longer lives within its boundaries.

In the state House, 30 of the body’s 134 members were put in districts against other representatives. Six of those races would pit two Democrats, six would put two Republicans together and three would be Republican-vs.-Democratic contests, if both would run again in each district.

Fifteen House districts will have no incumbent.

Sixteen of 67 senators would face off against another senator if incumbents ran again. In two cases, it would be two Democrats and in four districts two Republicans would face off. A democrat and Republican would compete in two races, with 16 Senate districts having no incumbent.

Among those put in the same Senate districts are:

-- Sens. John Carlson, R-Bemidji, and Tom Saxhaug, DFL-Grand Rapids.

-- Sens. Bill Ingebrigtsen, R-Alexandria, and Gretchen Hoffman, R-Vergas.

-- Sens. Paul Gazelka, R-Brainerd, and Tony Lourey, DFL-Kerrick.

-- Sens. Ted Lillie, R-Lake Elmo, and Ray Vanderveer, R-Forest Lake.

Sens. Gary Kubly, DFL-Granite Falls, and Joe Gimse, R-Willmar, were put in the same district, but Kubly has said he will not run again.

In the House, those lumped together in the same district include:

-- Reps. Larry Howes, R-Walker, and John Persell, DFL-Bemidji.

-- Reps. Carolyn McElfatrick, R-Deer River, and Tom Anzelc, DFL-Balsam Township.

-- Reps. Roger Crawford, R-Mora, and Bill Hilty, DFL-Finlayson.

-- Reps. Lyle Koenen, DFL-Clara City, and Andrew Falk, DFL-Murdock.

Reps. Mary Franson, R-Alexandria, and Mark Murdock, R-Otter Tail, would be in the same district, but Murdock already announced he will not run again.

In coming days, some legislators and potential candidates may consider moving to a new district. A legislative candidate must live in the district at least six months before the Nov. 6 election day.

U.S. House members do not need to live in the district they represent.

Three congressional districts are mostly rural and the other five are mostly suburban or urban.

“The plan established by the panel is a least-change plan to the extent feasible,” the judges said in their U.S. House map order.

Northeast Minnesota’s 8th congressional district, represented by Republican Chip Cravaack, changes the least, picking up more voters in the Bemidji area, although Bemidji itself remains in the 7th.

Western Minnesota’s 7th Congressional District served by Democratic U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson adds all or parts of three counties to the south and more of Stearns County but otherwise looks much the same.

Bachmann’s 6th also looks much like it did, although it loses the northern part of Washington County, where she lives. Democratic Rep. Betty McCollum’s 4th expands into Washington County to link St. Paul and eastern suburbs.

Bachmann and McCollum now live in the same district, but the U.S. Constitution does not require a U.S. House member to live in the district he or she represents. Bachmann plans to seek re-election in the 6th, which stretches across the northern Twin Cities to St. Cloud.

To the south, Republican Rep. John Kline’s 2nd expands into Wabasha County and two other counties.

Two Minneapolis-area districts show relatively little change.

Minnesota kept eight U.S. House seats after the 2010 census, although just barely. Each district contains just less than 663,000 people.

Each of Minnesota’s state Senate districts has about 79,000 people, twice that of a state House seat.

“The panel has established and utilized politically neutral redistricting principals that advance the interest of the collective public good and preserve the public’s confidence and perception of fairness in the redistricting process,” the judges wrote in their order.

The judicial panel’s order said that it did not try to protect incumbent legislators: “Election districts do not exist for the benefit of any particular legislator.”

For the most part, the judges kept American Indian reservations from being split among more than one legislative district. They also kept the Iron Range within one Senate district and apparently did not pair Iron Range lawmakers against each other.

“In the northwest, the Red River Valley continues to be placed in as few legislative districts as is practicable,” the judges wrote, keeping Moorhead and Detroit Lakes in a single Senate district.

The judges used Moorhead as an example of how they decided to draw lines.

Oakport Township is to be annexed by Moorhead, so the judges said they put the two together, even though that put more people in the House district than otherwise would be ideal. They said that was a good move so the city could be kept intact.

In eastern Washington County, the judges followed the wishes of residents from there who testified at public hearings and kept much of the area along the St. Croix River in one Senate district.

Much of the Twin Cities’ population growth has been in the outer-ring suburbs, known as exurbs. Today’s new maps reflect a long-time move of people from rural Minnesota to the Twin Cities area.

However, since many suburbs also include farmland, separating suburbs from rural areas sometimes is difficult.

Making comparing rural and suburban areas even more complex is the fact that the Twin Cities metropolitan region often now is considered an 11-county area. In the last census, it was considered seven counties.

Redistricting is more than political sport. Even though no one accuses the five judges of drawing the new maps for partisan advantage, how they drew lines will go a long ways to determine how competitive races will be between usually conservative Republicans and mostly liberal Democrats.

In some states, one party controls the legislature and governor’s office, giving that side a chance to draw lines favoring the party. In Minnesota, the Republican-controlled Legislature and Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton last year could not agree on new maps, throwing the decision to the courts.

Redistricting is required by two U.S. Supreme Court rulings and the Minnesota Constitution as a way to keep the same number of people in elected officials’ districts.

For instance, after the 2010 U.S. Census, Minnesota’s eight congressional districts varied in population from 614,624 in the St. Paul area to 759,478 in a district on the north edge of the Twin Cities. Redistricting was needed to even out populations of all the districts at about 663,000.

The same was true of the 201 state legislative districts, with populations of the exurbs around the Twin Cities growing most rapidly while many rural areas grew slower or lost population.

Knowing that Minnesota politicians have a history of not agreeing on new district maps, with the courts forced to make the final decision, Chief Justice Lorie S. Gildea of the Minnesota Supreme Court last year established a five-judge panel to hold hearings around the state and establish congressional and legislative district lines.

Gildea set up the panel based on a court case filed more than a year ago asking the courts to be involved. A case also filed in federal court remains on the books, but was suspended pending state court action.

Besides hearing from citizens around Minnesota, the five judges have heard from the two major political parties and others interested in the new maps.