IOWA UPDATE Iowa Legislators Approve New District Map On October 28, The Iowa Legislature approved a new set of political boundaries ending their work on the state’s redistricting process. The plan is the second proposal released under Iowa’s redistricting process. It establishes an electoral framework that will govern the next decade of Iowa politics. The Legislative Services Agency, a nonpartisan group develops the map based on census information. Legislators did not accept the first plan that was offered up. “After review of the second redistricting plan, I believe it corrects the failures of Plan One to redistrict the state in a compact manner with minimal differences in population,” Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, R-Ankeny, said in a statement. “Despite years of fearmongering about gerrymandering and claims the first map could not be improved, the Iowa Senate followed the process outlined in Iowa Code, and a more compact map with better population differences has been approved.”
R-Le Mars, and Jon Jacobsen, R-Council Bluffs, opposed it. Gov. Kim Reynolds must sign the new political boundaries into law. “Today’s decision by the Iowa Legislature to approve the second draft of the legislative and congressional redistricting maps is very encouraging,” Reynolds said in a statement. “I am confident in how the process played out — just as the law intended, and I believe these new districts will fairly and accurately represent the citizens of Iowa for the next decade.”
Though the first version of the maps would have dramatically reshuffled of the state’s political boundaries, the second version that was ultimately approved by lawmakers is described as an extension of current political dynamics. Iowa’s largest population centers will remain divided across the four congressional districts, as they are now, and voter registration totals will remain roughly identical to those of the current districts. The Senate was first to act, approving the plan by a vote of 48-1. Sen. Ken Rozenboom, R-Oskaloosa, was the only senator to oppose it. The House followed, voting 93-2 to approve the plan. Reps. Tom Jeneary,
New Maps Shake up Iowa’s 3rd District The biggest shakeup will occur in the 3rd Congressional District, which will include U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ home county of Wapello. The Republican congresswoman must now decide whether to remain in Wapello County and compete in the 3rd District or move. The newly redrawn 3rd District includes 10 of the 24 counties she previously represented, while the new 1st District includes 15 of those former counties. In a statement issued just after the maps were released, Miller-Meeks indicated she would seek reelection in some capacity in 2022. REP. MARIANNETTE MILLER-MEEKS
“I will be eager to get to know the people, businesses, communities in my newly drawn district when the process is finalized,” she said. U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne, Iowa’s lone Democrat in Congress, currently resides in Polk County and has represented the 3rd District since 2018. She has not yet said whether she intends to seek reelection to her congressional seat or run for governor. The 3rd District is among the top-targeted races in the country as Republicans seek to take back control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Former Republican President Donald Trump narrowly won the district in 2020, and groups like the National Republican Campaign Committee have already been advertising against Axne.
REP. CINDY AXNE
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