Democrats Big Winners in Congressional Redistricting

Competitiveness has become a new criterion for state court judges in congressional redistricting, and Democrats won big arguing for it before Judge Robert Hyatt.  The seven new districts now give Democrats a chance of picking up two additional seats during the expected 2012 competitive presidential race in Colorado.

Sal Pace, the very liberal, labor-oriented Pueblo Democrat, picked up just enough new liberal Democrats to tilt the competitive 3^rd CD away from freshman incumbent Scott Tipton.

Mike Coffman, the Republican incumbent in the Denver suburb’s 6^th CD, now has a much more competitive district centered in Aurora.

Other big winners in redistricting were the City of Aurora, which will now dominate the new 6^th CD, and Latino voters who pick up influence in the 3^rd CD and the newly redesigned 6^th CD by adding north Aurora.

A loser is Democratic Senate President Brandon Shaffer who wanted to challenge freshman Cory Gardner in the 4^th CD.  Shaffer was a longer shot than Pace due to Gardner’s political skills, but in the new 4^th CD with Douglas County, he has no chance.

Denver Democratic Attorney Mark Grueskin has become one of the nation’s premiere election lawyers.  He wrote the Democratic brief that Judge Hyatt added a few pages of introduction and then adopted.