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While GOP redistricting plans have proposed eliminating one or two Democrat-held Utah Senate districts, Democrats have countered with an alternative that would preserve them all by creating fewer "safe seats" for both parties.
The Democratic plan also appears not to pit any Senate incumbents against one another in the same new districts. Democrats hope that might persuade even GOP lawmakers to look at it seriously even though Democrats are outnumbered 14-5 on the Redistricting Committee (and 22-7 in the Senate).
"It wasn't a foregone conclusion for me that we needed to eliminate a Democratic district" because population growth there was slower than in GOP-held areas statewide, said Sen. Ben McAdams, D-Salt Lake City, a member of the Redistricting Committee who unveiled the Democratic Senate proposal.
"What I think was a foregone conclusion was that Democratic districts needed to become larger and encompass more people," he said. "They became larger and they shifted to the west."
A copy of his map is available at the committee's website: RedistrictUtah.com.
In contrast, Senate President Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, has said Democratic areas grew so slowly during the past decade that their combined population was enough for only six districts instead of the current seven. So he proposed a map that would force Sens. Pat Jones and Ross Romero, both D-Salt Lake City, into the same new district. It also would pair Sen. Luz Robles, D-Salt Lake City, against Sen. Dan Liljenquist, R-Bountiful, in a mostly Davis County district.
Democrats were quick to point out that Waddoups' plan seems to punish Liljenquist — who ran against him for Senate president — and Romero (the current Senate Democratic leader) and Jones (the previous Senate Democratic leader).
"The voters of Utah will vote 30 to 40 percent of the time for the Democratic candidate," McAdams said. "But we have only roughly 20 percent of the representation in the Legislature," so he argues boundaries should not be redrawn so Democrats would lose even more. He said his proposal better protects "communities of interest," including not combining part of Rose Park — where Robles lives in Salt Lake City — with Davis County, as Waddoups had proposed.
McAdams said he did not look at the partisan makeup of the new boundaries he proposes, but figures they must be more competitive because he expanded older Democratic districts into traditional Republican areas.
"It should help increase voter turnout because it will show people that their votes count, and the outcome is not a foregone conclusion for either party because of the way the boundaries are drawn," he said. "It will make incumbents more representative because they will have to work harder."
Redistricting hearing
The Redistricting Committee will hold its final hearing in Salt Lake County at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Day-Riverside Branch Library, 1575 W. 1000 North, Salt Lake City.