Redistricting -
Determining the Best Way Forward
During the recent redistricting announced last week, Carver County has been largely split up into two senate districts and three house districts. The western and southern part of Carver County have been apportioned to SD17, which also stretches into McLeod & Sibley Counties. Caver County lost 9 townships and 5 cities.
The new SD48 (Senator Coleman) stretches from Mayer to the Hennepin County border. Within it are (Representative Nash - 48A – Waconia, Mayer, Victoria and parts of Chaska) & (Representative Boe – 48B the remaining portion of Chaska and Chanhassen). Both SD48 and SD17 were carved out to have a population of 80,000 each.
Even though we were not Constitutionally “dissolved” by MN GOP Chair Hann, there are still several options to consider in terms of how we move forward. There are three options and all have positives and negatives. This is not meant to be an all-encompassing document that explains all the logistical issues with redistricting and any re-alignment, but merely a high level document to start discussion.
Option #1: Remain intact as the CCGOP
This requires little action up front, but constant coordination with a new political unit. As western and southern part of Carver County have been apportioned to SD17, if the CCGOP stays intact, it would inherit Sen. Scott Newman (SD17) and Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen (17B) (** Senator Newman has recently announced his retirement and Representative Gruenhagen is running for his position which will leaves 17B open for election).
Now with two Senators and three House Representatives, the CCGOP will have more elected officials to support and more work to do. Coordinating with a new political units in Sibley and McLeod could present logistical challenges and several conventions will need to be held to complete endorsements for the various house and senate districts located within Carver County.
Option #2: Split off into SD48
This option would encompass the most densely populated part of Carver County and would be responsible for Sen. Coleman (SD48), Rep. Nash (48A) and Rep. Boe (48B). New home construction is intense in the central and eastern parts of CC. Voting data suggests that the incoming residents are bringing their liberal metro area politics with them. This new alignment would provide support for S48 (Coleman), HD48A (Nash) & HD48B (Boe). The district would be smaller than our current area but the density would encompass about 80,000 residents. The new district would allow efforts to focus on keeping Carver County “red” as new metro area families bring their political ideology with them.
The downside to this organization is that the CCGOP is broken up in order to face the new reality of new boundaries. Delegates and volunteers from CC will have to adjust to a new organization within McLeod & Sibley. Additionally, with this option, Senator Newman and Representative Gruenhagen, will be able to consolidate their new delegates from CC into their political unit.
Option #3: Split into separate House Districts
This option would separate into a local political unit solely based on the House Representative boundaries. Within the entire of Carver County this could be, HD17B (currently Gruenhagen), HD48A (Nash) & HD48B (Boe).
Each unit would work for their designated House Rep., the Republican Senator from that district and support any other Republican events or duties as deemed necessary. Each local unit would represent a population of about 40,000. This facilities a smaller grassroots style of management over a smaller local area.
There are options to consider as we attempt to re-align our organization and this will be discussed on at the upcoming convention.
More detailed maps can be found here:
Senate District 48: https://www.gis.lcc.mn.gov/red...
House District 48A: https://www.gis.lcc.mn.gov/red...
House District 48B: https://www.gis.lcc.mn.gov/red...
House District 17B: https://www.gis.lcc.mn.gov/red...
