Democrats' new resdistricting map unites El Paso County

DENVER — In a surprise move Wednesday, Capitol Democrats unveiled a  redistricting map that is drastically different from one they introduced last week.

In all previous Democratic maps, El Paso County was split apart, and both Fort Carson and Schriever Air Force Base were pushed into the 3rd Congressional District, which includes Pueblo and western Colorado. The latest map keeps the county intact, with all five military bases in the 5th district.

“We respected the bases, we respected the integrity of CD 5. We compromised quite a bit to keep El Paso County whole,” said Rep. Ed Vigil, D-Fort Garland, who served on the bipartisan redistricting committee.

The rest of the 5th district, however, changed. The map removes Fremont, Park, Lake and Chaffee counties  and adds 10 from the eastern plains — Elbert, Lincoln, Kit Carson, Cheyenne, Crowley, Kiowa, Prowers, Otero, Bent and Baca.

Sen. Rollie Heath, D-Boulder, said Democrats made the changes after receiving a lot of feedback from the public, and that the new map should be a good starting point for negotiations with the Republicans, who introduced their own map on Tuesday.

Speaker of the House Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, said the new map was an improvement, but that it was unacceptable because it breaks up too many communities of interest and mashes together counties that have nothing in common.

“Putting (El Paso County) in with the lower Arkansas (Valley), I would think that the people in El Paso County would have the same types of concerns that folks in the lower Arkansas would have — that those diverging interests are going to tear the congressman apart,” he said, referring to battles over water rights.

Though El Paso County Republicans were happy that the map keeps all of the county and the military bases in the 5th district, they condemned it as foolhardy. They all said  dividing the eastern plains would  create problems.

“This is just a Democratic attempt to seem more reasonable,” said Rep. Mark Waller, R-Colorado Springs. “Just because they started so far in the wrong direction doesn’t mean this is a good map.”

Sen. Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs, suggested the map was an attempt at gerrymandering, to shore up political support for Democrats across the state.

Under the Democratic map, there are three districts that lean Democratic and four that lean Republican. The 1st, Denver, remains a solid Democratic district. The 5th district, which includes Colorado Springs, is a Republican stronghold.

In the 2nd, Democrats have a 3 percent advantage, in the 3rd, Republicans have a 4 percent advantage, in the 4th, Republicans have a 7 percent advantage, in the 6th, Republicans have a 5 percent advantage, and in the 7th, Democrats have a 4 percent advantage.

Rep. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs, pointed out that Fremont County is in the same congressional district as Boulder.

“I think my constituents in Fremont would be astounded to think they have anything in common with the people of Boulder,” Gardner said.

Rep. Pete Lee, D-Colorado Springs, said he was happy that El Paso County would be kept intact, and said he’s “happy that (the committee Democrats) are responding to input.”

Senate Majority Leader John Morse, D-Colorado Springs, said he was disappointed his colleagues decided to include all five military bases in the 5th district, instead of pushing Carson and Schriever into the 3rd district.

“Two voices in Congress is better than one,” Morse said, arguing that military interests would be better represented if more than one Colorado congressman had military bases in his district.