By Tabitha Mueller/The Nevada Independent
Preliminary drafts of congressional and legislative district maps released Tuesday reveal plans by Nevada Democrats to shore up their political advantages through the coming decade, including making two key congressional districts less swingy.
Democratic lawmakers said the maps released ahead of the expected redistricting special session later this week “reflect both our growing population and diversity,” which includes majority non-white populations in three of the state’s four congressional districts and 29 of 63 legislative districts.
“Throughout the state, we’ve proposed compact districts that keep local communities together, including maintaining representation for rural and northern Nevada and undoing the prior map’s splitting of tribal communities,” Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson and Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro said in a joint statement on Tuesday.
The proposed maps would make all three of the congressional districts that include at least part of Clark County tilt toward Democrats. Each encompasses an area that President Joe Biden won by between 6 and 8 percentage points in the 2020 election.
But boosting Democratic power is expected to lead to legal challenges from Republicans, who may have little say in the process as Democrats hold the majorities in both chambers of the Legislature and do not need Republican votes to approve the new district boundaries.
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