As you may have read in the paper or heard on the news, the Maine Legislature has just completed our work on redistricting. Maine is constitutionally mandated to redraw district lines after the federal census has been completed and the data is released. This includes the two congressional districts, the 35 state senate districts and the 151 house districts, as well as the county commissioner districts.
In conversations with friends and neighbors, I find most people have some understanding of redistricting because they have heard something about gerrymandering. Gerrymandering happens when one party in power manipulates voting districts to give themselves an electoral advantage. I have heard examples from other states that include oddly shaped districts, some being miles long but razor thin, or other districts sweeping into city centers to group together as many registered voters of one party in order to guarantee one party an advantage in those districts, but creating an advantage for the other party in the majority of the remaining districts across the state. Too often these politically-drawn divisions do not resemble a logical geographic division of the population.
We are fortunate that Maine, unlike many states, makes it near impossible to create gerrymandered districts. And that is intentional. Here in Maine, we have a bipartisan Apportionment Commission that oversees the redrawing of our district maps. When the commission reports out their map recommendations, the Legislature must pass the maps with two-thirds support.
This year, the commission, which is equally represented by both major parties and has a tie-breaker agreed upon by both sides, unanimously agreed on all of the maps it was charged to oversee. While there is certainly space for negotiation and for each side to advocate how the lines should be drawn, Maine's system keeps both sides honest and accountable. You can read the final report from the commission at Apportionment Commission.
What does redistricting mean for our community? For starters, there are some changes coming to House District 81. Readfield and Winthrop will remain together, but the portion of North Monmouth that I represent will join with the rest of Monmouth in a district with Litchfield and Wales. Our portion of North Monmouth was originally removed from the rest of the town because of the need to balance district populations against the statewide population. With the population growth Maine has seen over the last eight years, the new balance allows for all five of these towns to remain whole.
Next, and what has likely been discussed the most in this process, is the changes to the communities in Kennebec County that are in the 2nd Congressional District. Currently, Readfield and Winthrop are part of the 1st Congressional District. Beginning in 2022, we will join with many of our surrounding communities as part of the 2nd Congressional District.
I am incredibly proud that the redistricting process was carried out in a bipartisan, honest manner. If you have any questions about this or other topics, please send me an email at Rep. Tavis Hasenfus or give me a call at (207) 446-0016.
Hasenfus is serving his first term in the Maine House and is a member of the Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement and Business Committee. Hasenfus represents the communities of Readfield, Winthrop and North Monmouth.