Third and possibly final congressional map keeps corner of Eagle County in Boebert’s CD3

Colorado’s Independent Congressional Redistricting Commission on Thursday released the latest — and possibly final — version of a plan to redraw the state’s congressional boundaries as the deadline for the once-a-decade redistricting process nears.

The new plan is the third map to be drawn by the commission’s nonpartisan state staff, based on feedback from its 12 appointed members — four Democrats, four Republicans and four unaffiliated voters.

If the commission can’t approve a new map by a two-thirds vote within the next week, the third staff plan will be submitted to the Colorado Supreme Court for review on Sept. 30.

Like several previous proposals, the latest map would draw the state’s newly apportioned 8th District on the northern edge of the Denver metro area. Based on vote totals from Colorado’s 2020 U.S. Senate race, the new district would be the most competitive in the state, with Democrats with an advantage of less than 2 points, according to data released by commission staff.

All seven members of the House of Representatives in Colorado’s current congressional delegation — four Democrats, three Republicans — would be favored to keep their seats in the 2022 midterm elections, based on voting and registration data, though the boundaries of several existing districts would shift significantly.

Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter’s 7th District would expand south and west to include most of Jefferson County and nearby mountain communities, while Rep. Joe Neguse’s 2nd District would grow to include Jackson and Routt counties. Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn’s 5th District would shrink to comprise only the greater Colorado Springs area in western El Paso County.

The independent commission is the first of its kind to oversee redistricting under a process established by constitutional Amendments Y and Z, which were approved by Colorado voters in 2018.

Commissioners are scheduled to meet at 2 p.m. on Friday to hear a staff presentation on the third plan. Live audio and video feeds of the meeting can be found on the commission’s website.

Editor’s note: The third version of the congressional map would keep the southwestern corner of Eagle County in U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert’s 3rd Congressional District, with the rest of the county in Neguse’s 2nd Congressional District. This story first appeared on Colorado Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Colorado Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Quentin Young for questions: info@coloradonewsline.com. Follow Colorado Newsline on Facebook and Twitter.