Wyoming enacted new state legislative districts on March 25 when Gov. Mark Gordon (R) allowed a proposal approved by both legislative chambers to become law without his signature. The maps will take effect for Wyoming’s 2022 state legislative elections.
The Wyoming State Senate passed legislative redistricting plans on March 3, voting 20-10 to approve an amended version of the Joint Corporations, Elections, and Political Subdivisions Interim Committee’s proposal. The House rejected maps approved by the Senate in a 46-11 vote on March 8. Legislative leaders formed a committee of three representatives and three senators to resolve disputes over the proposals. The House passed the maps on March 11 in a 44-12 vote, and the Senate passed the maps in a 17-12 vote. The enacted proposal adds one Senate seat and two House seats to the state legislature.
Gordon said of the new maps, “I feel very comfortable with my neighbors being in the district they’re accustomed to shopping in, going to the feed store, or selling their cattle. So from that perspective I think it was a good solution.” Senate Minority Leader Chris Rothfuss (D) said “we basically ran out of time. It’s kind of like when you’re out of time and you have to submit your homework and here we are. But at the end of the day it isn’t living to the standards and obligations we were supposed to be putting forward.”
As of March 29, 43 states have adopted legislative district maps for both chambers and one state has adopted maps for one legislative chamber. The state supreme court in one state has overturned previously enacted maps, the U.S. Supreme Court has blocked previously enacted maps in one state, and four states have not yet adopted legislative redistricting plans after the 2020 census. As of March 25, 2012, 43 states had enacted legislative redistricting plans after the 2010 census.
Nationwide, states have completed legislative redistricting for 1,772 of 1,972 state Senate seats (89.9%) and 4,654 of 5,411 state House seats (86.0%).
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