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Colorado AG Weiser supports emergency redistricting to offset gerrymandering in other states

Phil Weiser
Sara Wilson
(Colorado Newsline)

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said he would support a state constitutional amendment that would allow the state to redraw its congressional districts to offset partisan gerrymandering in other states.

Weiser, a Democrat who is also running for governor next year, is the first statewide official to support such an idea. He first shared his support during a Thursday interview with 9News. Friday his campaign announced his position in a statement.

“When states like Texas and North Carolina redraw their maps to stack the deck in favor of Republicans, Colorado must be prepared to respond. If we want to stop this dangerous power grab, we must remove the incentive for these tactics in the first place — that means being ready to act,” he said in the statement.

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President Donald Trump has urged Republican-led states to redraw their congressional lines so the party can pick up more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives next year. Texas, Missouri and North Carolina completed that mid-decade redistricting to give Republicans an advantage. California voters will decide on a ballot measure to redraw the state’s maps in November.

“When other states break long established norms and do mid-decade redistricting, Colorado can’t stand idly by and just watch,” Weiser said.

An independent redistricting commission draws congressional maps in Colorado, and the panel redrew the maps for the first time in 2021. Colorado has eight congressional districts, with four represented by Democrats and four represented by Republicans.

A proposed state constitutional amendment for next year’s ballot, however, would give the governor emergency redistricting power to offset “national redistricting imbalances.” That ballot measure has not yet been filed with the secretary of state’s Title Board, but it underwent a review by Legislative Council Staff in September.

Weiser is calling for a “narrowly-drawn” constitutional amendment to allow mid-decade redistricting. The earliest any new maps could be drawn under that amendment would be for the 2028 cycle.

U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, the other high-profile Democrat running for Colorado governor, said in a statement to Newsline that Democrats need to focus on flipping House seats to put pressure on Trump.

“All options should be on the table to defend our democracy, but changing the maps in 2028 is too late,” he said. “We can take on Republicans like (Rep.) Lauren Boebert and win House seats here in Colorado — from Adams and Weld Counties to the Western Slope and El Paso County.”