Minnesota’s political landscape for the next ten years is riding somewhat on the November election, because whichever part wins a majority will have a big say on how congressional and legislative boundaries are drawn.
Redistricting, the cutting and carving and shaping of those districts happens every ten years, according to the shifting of the state’s population.
It begins right after election and census figures are finalized.
“You know it’s going to be somewhat partisan. This is why you try to win, right?”
Concordia University-St. Paul political science professor Dr. David Woodard said any changes will likely take place in the Twin Cities and its suburbs, with the newly elected Minnesota legislature doing the re-shaping.
“Because of polarization, you’re going to get a lot of rural Minnesotans saying ‘we’re getting taken here,’ and ‘this isn’t right.’” Dr. Woodard said.
With the majority of the state Senate hanging in the balance in the election, it’s not known which party will have the upper hand when they sit down and begin the process.
“What you would hope for is that they would pass something reasonable, and not one of those strange little curved districts,” said Dr. Woodard.
“But, there’s so much pressure on these people to deliver to those that voted for them.
“Sometimes I think they lose their logic skills, and they figure ‘well, they’d do it to us, so we’re going to do it to them,” he said.
Just how big the majority is following the election could backfire against the party in control. If it’s slim, the party in the minority can use that to their advantage.
“They can go to the public and say, ‘see, they didn’t win a big majority, so maybe people won’t want this strange redistricting thing,’” Dr. Woodard said. “Then it would probably be more of a fight.”
Because politics has evolved into such a blood sport in recent years, Dr. Woodard expected more attention than usual on redistricting this time around.
“Usually, it doesn’t affect enough people,” he said. “But I think the folks at the legislature think it really affects them. They’re the ones who have to deliver. And they’re the ones who are going to have to put up with the (feedback of) ‘they cheated, this is terrible.”
Dr. Woodard said that kind of rhetoric is likely why most people simply don’t like politics.
