Arizona congressional boundaries shift in favor of Republican party

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona’s independent redistricting commission on Wednesday unanimously approved new boundaries for congressional districts that are likely to shift the state’s congressional delegation in favor of Republicans.

The new boundaries create four solidly Republican districts, two where Democrats are likely to dominate and three that could be relatively competitive, based on metrics the commission uses to measure competitiveness. Of the potentially competitive districts, one strongly favors Democrats and two lean toward Republicans based on their voting patterns in nine past elections.

Arizona’s congressional delegation currently has five Democrats and four Republicans. The likelihood that Democrats will lose ground in Arizona further complicates the party’s bleak prospects in next year’s midterm elections, when control of the U.S. House will be at stake.

On the new congressional map, districts currently represented by Democrats Tom O’Halleran and Ann Kirkpatrick — the two most competitive in the state under the existing boundaries — moved in favor of Republicans. The new boundaries for O’Halleran’s rural district tilt it strongly toward Republicans, casting serious doubt on his prospects for reelection.

The regions now represented by Schweikert and Kirkpatrick will be the state’s two battleground districts. An East Valley District including Tempe, Mesa, Ahwatukee and part of Chandler is considered marginally competitive under the commission’s metrics, though voters there have elected Democrats in eight of nine races analyzed by the commission.

Maps drawn by the Arizona redistricting commissions based on the 2000 and 2010 censuses both were challenged in court.

The voter-created redistricting law, which removed the job from the Legislature and was supposed to limit partisanship, says commissioners should draw districts that are compact and contiguous, comply with the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act and respect communities of interest and city, county or geographic lines or features.

The commission adopted draft maps in late October and then held a monthlong series of meetings across the state before starting its final set of meetings last week.