Post-Redistricting Update

After many late nights and long days, the plans for redistricting have been established. The Congressional, Legislative, Public Service Commission, Nebraska Supreme Court, Board of Education, and the NU Board of Regents maps ( LB 1, LB 3, LB 5, LB 6, LB 7, and LB 8 ) have passed final reading and have been signed by the Governor. You may view these maps here: http://news.legislature.ne.gov/red/adopted-plan/.

This completes the first Redistricting Special Session in the history of Nebraska. I am proud of my colleagues and staff throughout the capitol building as we were able to work together and get this done in a very short time frame. I want to give a large thank you to the redistricting committee: Senators Linehan, Blood, Briese, Brewer, Geist, Lathrop, Lowe, Morfeld and Wayne. This committee worked day and day to try to negotiate a bipartisan compromise plan for redistricting. This was not an easy task as every district has their own special and unique needs, demographics and interests. These needs would not have been as clear without those that came to testify in Grand Island, Lincoln, and Omaha. I am also grateful for those constituents who have called and emailed my office with their concerns or needs. This entire process was a group effort and I am proud of everyone involved.

Legislative District 45

How do the new maps affect District 45? The Southwest corner of the district will now fall into District 36. The City of Bellevue has seen extraordinary growth, forcing the boundaries of LD 45 to move inward. This instance has affected many districts in the Eastern part of Nebraska due to population growth. Many Senators in Eastern Nebraska have had to give up a part of their districts and while I am saddened to lose that part of the district, it will be left in good hands with Senator Matt Williams. If you are in the affected area, here is a link to Senator Williams’ website.

Congressional District 1

Not only did the legislature have the task of redrawing the lines for the legislative map, my colleagues and I reworked the congressional map as well. The conversation around the congressional maps revolved around a simple question: do we split Douglas County or Sarpy County in half between two different congressional districts? Splitting up any county is not an ideal scenario, however, due to the population growth in both counties, it was an inevitable next step, however, Congressional District 1 still encompasses all of legislative district 45. We remain in good hands with Congressman Jeff Fortenberry as he continues to be a great representative of Nebraska’s 1st district. If you wish to contact his office, here is a link to the Congressman’s website.