State Sen. Ortiz y Pino to Sponsor NM-01 Redistricting Bill?

Democratic State Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino wants to introduce a bill when the Legislature convenes in January that would redraw the boundaries of New Mexico's first congressional district. Repub Heather Wilson recently beat Dem Patricia Madrid in the NM-01 congressional race by only 862 votes.

Sen.Ortiz y Pino is proposing two different configurations meant to consolidate the area's urban and Native American components and make the district more cohesive as a metro area voting bloc. Proposed changes would include moving more rural parts of Torrance County, in the East mountains, to the second district and including more urban parts of Valencia County, south of Albuquerque, into NM-01. The district currently consists primarily of Bernalillo County, but also encompasses portions of Sandoval, Santa Fe, Torrance and Valencia counties. According to an Albuquerque Tribune article:

"The last election showed how uncohesive our current district is," Ortiz y Pino said.

"We'd like to not be splitting the Native Americans as we are now and we'd like metro Albuquerque to be metro, not urban and rural."

Sen. Ortiz y Pino's introduction of a redistricting bill appears contingent on gaining the support of Governor Bill Richardson and his fellow State Senators:

Ortiz y Pino said he hasn't talked to Senate leaders about the plans and hopes to present them to Gov. Bill Richardson soon. Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said the governor will consider Ortiz y Pino's plans.

"The governor would prefer to wait until the next round of redistricting in 2010, but is willing to listen to Sen. Ortiz y Pino," he said.

However, Ortiz y Pino said he won't push the issue if Richardson doesn't want to. Redistricting in 2000 dragged on until a court ordered the current districting map in 2001.

"I would hold off if he (Richardson) asks me, but I'd like us to begin talking about it," Ortiz y Pino said.

Predictably, New Mexico's Repubs are against the plan. NM Senate Minority Whip Leonard Lee Rawson of Las Cruces said, "I think it's wrong-headed. I think we do redistricting once in a decade, not right after an election." Pretty funny, considering that the now discredited Repub Tom DeLay hatched a non-census year plan that resulted in a nice gain of seats for his Party in Texas. Thanks to a U.S. Supreme Court decision on DeLay's plan, it's now been ruled constitutional (with limitations) to redraw boundaries in non-census years. I guess Repubs can't bring themselves to believe that what's good for the goose is good for the gander.

There's reportedly also some grumbling coming from several Dems in NM's southern second district, an area currently represented by Repub Steve Pearce. They believe Dems have a chance to win a congressional seat in the district given that voter registration figures there actually favor Dems. They claim adding more Repub-heavy areas to NM-02 could end those hopes.

Note: DFNM guest blogger 'Land of Enchantment' recently advocated for redistricting of NM-01 in this post. What do you think?