GOP Hits Judicial Wall on Redistricting

11 Comments

by: Colorado Pols

As the Durango Herald’s Joe Hanel reports:

Republicans appealing a court ruling that drew favorable congressional districts for Democrats ran up against a skeptical state Supreme Court on Thursday…

Denver Chief District Judge Robert Hyatt chose a map drawn by Democrats that strips most of Douglas County, a Republican stronghold, out of Coffman’s district and puts it into the Eastern Plains, also a safe GOP district.

In return, Coffman got the whole city of Aurora, a racially and politically diverse place that makes his next election much harder to win…

“This is a square peg in a round hole. Douglas County shares no community of interest with the Eastern Plains,” Republican lawyer Richard Westfall said.

But the justices pushed back against Westfall.

“I thought the chief judge did a lot better job than what you’re characterizing,” Justice Gregory Hobbs said. [Pols emphasis]

We said previously that although the Colorado Supreme Court’s remanding of state legislative reapportionment maps back to the commission is a stated reason by Republicans to have appealed the congressional redistricting maps, citing “similarities” between the two cases, they really aren’t similar at all. It was our expectation that getting the Supreme Court to remand Judge Robert Hyatt’s congressional map would be a much bigger lift than the commission-drawn legislative maps–and based on the chilly reception Richard Westfall and the GOP got in the Old Supreme Court chambers yesterday, we think that will probably be the story of this appeal.

And no, it’s not what Mike Coffman was hoping against hope for.

11 thoughts on “GOP Hits Judicial Wall on Redistricting”

Lurker19 says:

December 2, 2011 at 11:24 pm

Expect to see ArapGOP crying his eyes out, however. “Competition is so unfair!!!!!”

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1. Phoenix Rising says:
  
  December 2, 2011 at 11:35 pm
  
  The Colorado Supreme Court (which agreed with Republicans on the reapportionment map case) is obviously a bunch of activist partisan judges who are secretly in cahoots with Mario Carrera to side with Democrats.
  
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Early Worm says:

December 2, 2011 at 11:59 pm

. . . on the Supreme Court’s website. For the law nerds out there, the worst news for the Republicans is that there was a great deal of questioning about the standard of review, abuse of discretion, and not much about the substance of the redistricting decision.

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Gilpin Guy says:

December 3, 2011 at 5:46 am

and cut out red meat. Vegan Mike!

Could be good for him from a maturity perspective. If he suddenly gets real about the issues then it will show that he was just another political opportunist but being an opportunist isn’t the same as being a bad politician. One can hope that a stroll back to the middle will remind him that he can win without the extremist vote. Good government might be an unintended by-product of this redistricting.

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droll says:

December 3, 2011 at 7:30 pm

Both are maps that piss off the GOP. Similar.

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Half Glass Full says:

December 4, 2011 at 2:59 am

Wasn’t quite sure whether, at least for Coffman, the GOP’s appeal made his job even harder.

I love the idea of Coffman having to go up and campaign in Aurora. Would have loved to have seen Tancredo have to go through that.

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1. Phoenix Rising says:
  
  December 4, 2011 at 3:23 am
  
  But from the sounds of things, no – the GOP didn’t manage to screw itself over like it did with the reapportionment appeal. The judge’s map will remain in place.
  
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ArapaGOP says:

December 4, 2011 at 10:45 pm

I’m hoping to see a different Colorado Supreme Court tomorrow. And I just might…

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1. Phoenix Rising says:
  
  December 5, 2011 at 12:33 pm
  
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  1. Ralphie says:
    
    December 5, 2011 at 9:41 pm
    
    “Second-Amendment Remedies”
    
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  2. Diogenesdemar says:
    
    December 5, 2011 at 10:20 pm
    
    the new meds aren’t worth a shit, either.
    
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