Democrats’ new redistricting proposal passes first committee in state Assembly

CARSON CITY -- A Democrat-dominated committee on a party-line vote approved a new redistricting plan Tuesday that looks a lot like the one Gov. Brian Sandoval vetoed Saturday.

In fact, Assembly Legislative Operations and Elections Chairman Tick Segerblom, D-Las Vegas, said the new version of Assembly Bill 566 contains only technical changes in legislative district boundaries in comparison to the bill vetoed by the governor.

The new bill still has a 73 percent Hispanic population in Assembly District 28 and a 71 percent Hispanic population in District 11. Such high Hispanic concentrations prompted Sandoval, Nevada's first Hispanic governor, to complain that Democrats were diluting the voting power of Hispanics by concentrating them in as few districts as possible.

The most recent plan dramatically redraws Congressional District 3 represented by U.S. Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev. Instead of his district running from Clark County into the Republican rural western half of the state, Heck would represent a Clark County district with a voting population that's 47 percent Democratic and 30 percent Republican.

Under the Republican plan, the new Congressional District 4 would have a 50.7 percent Hispanic population.

The six Republicans on the 15-member Legislative Operations and Election Committee smiled as they once again voted no on AB566. Assembly Minority Leader Pete Goicoechea, R-Eureka, laughed after the meeting but would not say conclusively that Sandoval again will veto the bill if it reaches his desk.

"There is a chance he will veto it," he said. "I don't know if this is a better or worse plan."

Segerblom, however, said he was optimistic about a compromise.

"No one wants to go to court," said Segerblom, who is aware lawsuits challenging redistricting already have been filed in U.S. District Court in Reno and state District Court in Carson City. "We are still talking. We have almost three weeks ahead. Lots of time to talk and negotiate."

But Goicoechea and other Republicans complained Democrats as yet have not even had a full-fledged hearing on their redistricting bill, AB567. The GOP bill creates four Hispanic majority Senate districts and eight Hispanic majority Assembly districts.

On the other hand, Assembly Speaker John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas, said, Republicans have never given maps with street boundaries of their proposed districts to legislative staff.

"I don't want to start a fight here," he said. "But the Republican maps are not here yet. No one can verify that what they say is accurate."

On the advice of their lawyers, Goicoechea said Republicans have not placed in legislative computers the proposed district boundaries that identify all streets. He said he would discuss releasing that information with attorneys, but first wants a commitment that Democrats will give a full hearing to the GOP plan.

Segerblom, however, wants the entire Assembly to vote on the bill as early as today .

If the bill is approved and moves over to the Senate for additional hearings, Segerblom said, there will be time for a comparison of Republican versus Democratic maps if the GOP will release the street information.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.