LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Kentucky Democratic Party joined a group of Franklin County residents in filing a lawsuit Thursday challenging the districts created in the state's new congressional and state House districts.
Calling the maps "unconstitutional" and "partisan," KDP said in a news release Thursday that they amount to gerrymandering and violate the stat constitution.
"These maps were drawn behind closed doors with no public input to silence the voices of hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians,” KDP Chair Colmon Elridge said in the news release. “We are joining residents who are disenfranchised by these gerrymandered districts to stop this partisan power grab. These maps intentionally slice up cities and counties, reduce the number of women serving in the House and dilute the voices of minority communities.”
Both maps overwhelmingly cleared the GOP-dominated legislature earlier this month, signaling Republican lawmakers would have the political muscle to override Gov. Andy Beshear's vetoes. And after Beshear vetoed the maps Wednesday — calling them "a political gerrymander" and saying they "dilute the voices of certain minority communities" — lawmakers overrode the vetoes Thursday.
“The process and the districts are deeply flawed," said Jill Robinson, a former Franklin County magistrate and a plaintiff in the suit. "There were no public meetings, no hearings, no feedback, the new maps were rolled out at the last minute and passed immediately. That’s not good for democracy. We should take this process of redistricting as an opportunity for civil engagement rather than as a power grab.”
The new map would extend the 1st Congressional District’s fishhook deeper into central Kentucky to include Franklin and Washington counties and part of Anderson County. The sprawling 1st District would stretch from Fulton County, tucked into the southwestern corner of Kentucky, to Frankfort, about 300 miles away.
The changing boundaries stem from population changes reflected in the latest Census data. Eastern and western Kentucky generally lost population, while central and northern sections gained residents.
The lawsuit calls this a "geographical absurdity."
"Republicans drew the district so Congressman Jamie Comer would actually finally live in the Western Kentucky district he has represented for years," the lawsuit says.
“The General Assembly’s focus in creating these district maps wasn’t representation or democracy or even legality — their focus was on partisan politics, which is why they unnecessarily sliced up so many counties,” plaintiff Joseph Smith said in the news release. “Why else would I, a Franklin County resident, be sorted into the same congressional district as Paducah? I should pick my representatives — they shouldn’t pick me.”
The lawsuit asks that the maps be invalidated and deemed unconstitutional. You can read it below:
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