FRANKFORT, Ky. - A Kentucky redistricting plan would pit Republican against Republican in the next election cycle. The House State Government Committee on Tuesday approved the plan that would force 13 lawmakers-- 12 of them Republican -- to run against each other.
Redistricting occurs every 10 years to account for population changes found by the U.S. Census Bureau.
“There's always heated debate in redistricting, I mean that's just the nature of the beast,” said House Speaker Greg Stumbo.
The new House districts would create seven new districts across Kentucky, where no current lawmakers reside. Those districts are:
- House District 1 -- Fulton, Hickman Carlisle and Ballard counties, with parts of Graves County.
- House District 19 -- Warren County/Bowling Green
- District 36 -- East Louisville
- District 49 -- Bullitt County
- District 54 -- Anderson, Shelby and part of Bullitt county
- District 88 -- Fayette County/Lexington
- District 96 -- Powell, Estill and part of Madison county.
The new map would also have 13 incumbents running against each other in the next election. All but one of the lawmakers (Rocky Adkins) are Republicans.
- House District 2 -- Rep. Steven Rudy v. Rep. Richard Heath
- District 5 -- Rep. Lynn Bechler v. Rep. Ben Waide
- District 17 -- Rep. Jim DeCesare v. Rep. Mike Meredith v. Rep. C.B. Embry
- District 89 -- Rep. Marie Rader v. Rep. Toby Herald
- District 91 -- Rep. Mike Harmon v. Rep. Jonathan Shell
- District 99 -- Rep. Jill York v. Rep Rocky Adkins (Democrat)
The state Supreme Court struck down the redistricting plan the House passed last year, finding the new districts were unbalanced by population and didn't comply with the “one person, one vote mandate” in federal and state law.
