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New Mexico court rejects GOP lawsuit seeking to strike down Democratic-drawn congressional map [1]

['Daily Kos Staff']

Date: 2023-10-06  

A state trial court upheld New Mexico's congressional map on Friday. It ruled that while Democratic lawmakers did gerrymander the map to gain an advantage in the 2nd District, the partisan effect was not egregious enough to make it unconstitutional because it did not effectively predetermine the outcome in the district. On the graphic at the top of this story, you can compare the new map that Democrats enacted in 2021 with the court-drawn map that was used last decade. (Click here for a larger image, and see here for an interactive version of the new map).

The lower court’s ruling follows a unanimous decision earlier this year by the state Supreme Court, which is entirely Democratic, that found that the state constitution does allow litigants to raise claims of impermissible partisan gerrymandering. The justices had directed the lower court judge to assess the map according to a three-part test from liberal Justice Elena Kagan's dissent to a 2019 U.S. Supreme Court decision that barred federal courts from adjudicating claims of partisan gerrymandering. Kagan's test involved partisan intent, partisan effect, and whether mapmakers had a "legitimate, non-partisan justification."

The state Supreme Court's ruling was fairly deferential, further stating that "a reasonable degree of partisan gerrymandering" is "permissible" but warning that it cannot be "egregious in intent and effect." The lower court judge, who won his initial election as a Republican in 2014, found that the map had clear signs of Democratic partisan intent and rejected Democrats' nonpartisan justifications as unsupported by evidence. However, the map did not violate the "effect" component because the 2nd lacked an enduring impact that guaranteed Democratic victory.

The new map dramatically reconfigured the rural 2nd District in the southern part of the state so that it gained a heavily Democratic portion of the Albuquerque area and shed heavily Republican parts of southern New Mexico, which became split among all three districts. As a result, the 2nd was transformed from a solidly Republican seat that Donald Trump had carried 55-43 in 2020 into a light-blue swing district that Joe Biden would have won 52-46—a key reason why Democrat Gabe Vasquez was able to oust freshman GOP Rep. Yvette Herrell last year.

However, that race was extremely close, with Vasquez prevailing by less than a percentage point, 50.3 to 49.6. In fact, Herrell kicked off a bid for a rematch earlier this year, suggesting she does not believe Vasquez is entrenched in his seat. Furthermore, Republicans still found success elsewhere on the ballot last year: Despite losing statewide by 52-46, Republican gubernatorial nominee Mark Ronchetti narrowly won the 2nd by a 48.7 to 48.4 margin, according to analyst Drew Savicki.

Republicans did not immediately indicate whether they will appeal the ruling. However, given that the state Supreme Court had already laid out the test that the lower court used to adjudicate the new map's validity, it seems doubtful the Republican challengers would have a better chance of success with the high court.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/6/2197790/-New-Mexico-court-rejects-GOP-lawsuit-seeking-to-strike-down-Democratic-drawn-congressional-map?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=elections&pm_medium=web

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