Redistricters all agree on one point: Stick with 35 legislative districts

Idaho’s bipartisan citizen redistricting commission is now reviewing all of the citizen-initiated redistricting plans submitted to the commission through the online “Maptitude” program; there are 29 of them. The first one, L-1, drew up a plan for just 30, rather than the current 35, legislative districts; that’s allowed, but it prompted a rare moment of unanimous agreement among the six commisioners. “I would suggest that given that we’ve committed to a 35-district plan, that we skip over any full plan that isn’t about 35 districts,” said Democratic Commissioner George Moses. GOP Co-Chairman Evan Frasure said, “I appreciate that, it’ll probably cut down this process, but it is duly noted that we appreciate those inputs. … As we held statewide hearings, it is pretty obvious that the commission agrees to go for a 35-district plan.”

At the commission’s public hearings across the state, people in all areas urged keeping 35 districts to avoid reducing representation by dropping the number.