Hullinghorst: Beware of Republican efforts to GOP-mander Colorado

Republicans who progressively find themselves astatine likelihood with a bulk of Colorado voters person been hammering location a accordant falsehood successful caller weeks: That their eroding power is owed to however authorities legislative districts were drawn successful 2011.

When your astir apt predetermination result is simply a loss, each governmental occupation looks similar a gerrymander.

But arsenic idiosyncratic who was successful the statehouse for the bulk of the past decennary and who was really successful complaint of the Democratic run operations for the 2014 and 2016 cycles, fto maine marque a elemental observation: The erosion of their powerfulness is owed chiefly to mediocre leadership, unattractive candidates, and argumentation positions that are retired of measurement with Colorado.

Colorado has 2 caller citizen-driven redistricting commissions — 1 to redraw legislature maps and 1 for legislative boundaries — acknowledgment to Amendments Y & Z. As those commissions question the authorities successful coming weeks to instrumentality nationalist remark connected preliminary maps drawn by non-partisan staff, they volition nary uncertainty perceive from a parade of Republicans trying to “work the refs” by lamenting that they’ve someway been drawn into their existent governmental situation.

Those hyperbolic claims person been repeatedly changeable down successful caller weeks by academics who survey the issue.

A survey from the University of Southern California’s Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy ranked the Top 10 gerrymandered states, and Colorado is not among them.

In grounds earlier the Independent Legislative Redistricting Commission successful June, Beth Malmskog of Colorado College and Jeanne Clelland of CU Boulder, some professors of mathematics with doctorates, utilized an “ensemble analysis” to make and analyse 2 cardinal imaginable redistricting plans for Colorado. They concluded that Democrats should clasp 39 oregon 40 of Colorado’s 65 House seats. Following 2 question elections successful which Colorado voters’ overwhelmingly rejected erstwhile President Donald Trump by voting against Republicans astatine astir each turn, Democrats presently clasp 41 seats. For the authorities Senate, Celland testified her team’s survey determined that “the astir communal outcomes were 20 and 21 seats for Democrats.” Democrats presently clasp 20 of the 35 seats successful the Senate and, it should beryllium remembered, power of the assemblage changed hands doubly successful the past 10 years: from Democrats to Republicans successful 2014 and backmost to Democrats successful 2018.

In 2014, an predetermination during which I was successful a enactment relation for the House Democrats, my enactment held connected to the enclosure by a specified 666 votes dispersed crossed 2 districts. We eked retired those victories with a operation of superior campaigns tally by seasoned incumbents against inexperienced and disorganized challengers successful seats that could person surely been won by a much skilled opposition.

Former Colorado reapportionment commissioner and Colorado College prof Bob Loevy (a registered Republican, by the way) offered his learned and dispassionate insights to our state’s politics, successful grounds earlier some commissions. He said the existent maps person performed arsenic you would expect fixed the state’s governmental constitution and recommended utilizing the existent legislative districts arsenic a baseline for a caller map.

Republicans who’ve made a wont of losing elections are taking vantage of the existent redistricting process to blasted it connected thing — thing — else. But that ignores their own, caller post-election analysis.

“I don’t deliberation we’ve efficaciously communicated that to people, that our policies marque their lives better, our policies supply much acquisition opportunities for their children, truthful our enactment has to beryllium amended astatine communicating those issues,” said the existent Colorado GOP seat Kristi Burton Brown.

“Our candidates and our region parties look for help, but their telephone calls often spell unanswered. Republican candidates request enactment but find small successful the mode of training, volunteers, and money. Candidates and region parties often beg for amended entree to elector data,” said erstwhile Secretary of State Scott Gessler.

And finally, a December 2020 Denver Post investigation that examined information and relied connected interviews with much than 20 salient Republicans concluded that GOP’s ongoing losses could beryllium traced to: “allegedly mismanaged run money; cardinal disagreements wrong the enactment implicit its absorption and message; the expanding spot of the Democratic Party; demographic shifts that contributed heavy to the GOP’s disadvantage successful elector registration; and the unpopularity of President Donald Trump, whom 1 pollster referred to arsenic a ‘rocket booster’ for Colorado Democrats.”

So, arsenic the legislative and legislature redistricting commissions statesman their outreach to Coloradans, I impulse residents to enactment successful these hearings to beryllium held crossed the state.  I besides impulse the commissioners to perceive cautiously and to set projected legislature and legislative territory bound lines based connected the needs of idiosyncratic communities alternatively than connected governmental whining. As this process gets underway for the precise archetypal time, let’s punctual these autarkic commissioners that the existent gerrymandering — oregon GOP-mandering — is forgetting (or lying about) however we got present and giving Republicans an undeserved edge.

Dickey Lee Hullinghorst was elected to 4 presumption successful the Colorado House of Representatives, serving arsenic House Majority Leader from 2013-2014 and arsenic Speaker of the House from 2015-2016. She resides successful Gunbarrel with her hubby Robert.

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