Idaho's current legislative districts will “have to be substantially changed” this year, BSU political scientist Gary Moncrief told the redistricting commission this morning, whose job it is to draw those new district lines. That's because the ideal district size, should Idaho stick with 35 legislative districts, is now 44,788. That's about 8,000 more people than the ideal legislative district size 10 years ago. But while some areas have grown substantially in population, others haven't grown much or have even shrunk/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boise. More here.

DFO: I know I should care about redistricting. It's wery, wery important. However, I'm so disgusted with the lousy representation provided by the 9 legislators in Kootenai County that I really don't care all that much how they draw the lines this time -- as long as one of the three Tea Party solons of House District 3 isn't part of my new district.

Question: Will North Idaho get a fair shake from a Redistrict Commission that includes 2 co-chairs from Pocatello and only 1 Panhandle rep?