Redistricting in Iowa after the 2010 census

Note: Redistricting takes place every 10 years after completion of the United States Census. The information here pertains to the 2010 redistricting process. For information on more recent redistricting developments, see this article.

Redistricting in Iowa

General information

Partisan control: Split

Process: Iowa Legislative Service Agency draws boundaries, General Assembly and Governor must approve plan

Deadline: September 15, 2011

Total seats

Congress: 4

State Senate: 50

State House: 100

This article details the timeline of redistricting events in Iowa following the 2010 census. It also provides contextual information about the redistricting process and census information.

Process

See also: State-by-state redistricting procedures

The Iowa Legislative Services Agency used computer software to generate a proposed redistricting map, disregarding all factors except population. Although the legislature still had to approve the final maps, this process had not been contentious in the past. According to Ed Cook, senior legal analyst with the Legislative Services Agency, "The thing that makes us unique to most states is basically we don't take into account any political information."

For congressional redistricting, the Iowa Code did not permit redistricting maps to split counties. For state-level redistricting, counties and cities should be split as little as possible. Greater leeway was given in splitting larger counties and cities. State law also mandated that all districts were drawn to within one percent of their ideal population. Under the 2010 Census, ideal congressional districts for Iowa would contain 761,589 residents. Ideal State Senate districts would contain 60,927 residents, and ideal State House district would contain 30,464 residents.

In 2011, Iowa's bipartisan Temporary Redistricting Commission unanimously selected Maggie Tinsman to oversee state and congressional redistricting.

With respect to Congressional redistricting, the Iowa Constitution provided authority to the legislature under Section 37 of Article III. The relevant text for legislative redistricting was located in Section 34, Section 35, Section 36 and Section 39 of Article III.

Census results

Lost seat

Iowa lost a congressional seat in the 2010 Census. As a result, the state's total was reduced from five to four congressional districts.

Local census data

On February 10, Iowa received its detailed 2010 census data. The data showed significant growth in the state's suburban areas and contraction in a few cities and the state's rural counties.

Redistricting

Averting gridlock

Since the redistricting process used in 2011 was enacted in 1980, Iowa had not experienced the gridlock in redistricting.

Uncertainty

Despite Iowa's population gains over the decade preceding redistricting, the state eliminated one congressional seat. In addition, due to population shifts around the state, every remaining congressional district needed to be redrawn. The state saw a great deal of population growth in Iowa City and Des Moines, two cities in the Eastern part of the state. Jim Ellis, an analyst at the PRIsm consulting firm, speculated that the state's 4th Congressional District would be a likely target of redistricting since the district lacked major anchor cities and its elimination would allow for the expansion of the state's Eastern districts.

March 2011: Redistricting plan released

The first, and final, redistricting plan for Iowa was released on March 31, 2011. The plan was to be accepted or rejected by the Governor and legislature. Per rules, three consecutive plans may be rejected before the decision would be referred to the Iowa Supreme Court.

The plan put U.S. Representatives Tom Latham (R) and Steve King (R) together in District 4, and Reps. Bruce Braley (D) and Dave Loebsack (D) together in the first district. Rep. Leonard Boswell (D) remained alone in District 3, leaving District 2 open. The legislative plan drew a number of incumbents into neighboring districts where they would face other sitting legislators. The Senate plan involved seven of these matchups, including one Democratic pairing, two bipartisan matchups, and three Republican pairings. The plan drew Senate President Jack Kibbie (D) and incumbent David Johnson (R) into the same district. The House plan included one bipartisan matchup, three Democratic pairings, and 9 Republican pairings. The plan left 14 of the state's 100 House districts without an incumbent.

Comments from the congressional delegation can be found here.

Overall, the maps showed solid conformity to ideal districts, especially the proposed congressional maps. For congressional districts, the ideal district is 761,589 residents. The proposed map showed only a .01% variance, a variance of less than 50 residents per district. For the Iowa House of Representatives, the ideal district would have 30,464 residents and the variance was 1.93%, a variance of less than 300 residents. For the Iowa State Senate, the ideal district would have 60,927 residents and the variance was 1.65%, a variance of less than 550 residents. Overall, the variance for congressional districts was lower than in the previous three redistricting cycles. The variances for legislative maps were up over the previous (2001) cycle.

April 2011: Public input sought on redistricting plans

Before the legislature could legally act on a redistricting plan, the Temporary Redistricting Advisory Commission was required to compile public input. To this end, four public hearings were held in April 2011. Comments were aggregated and submitted to the state legislature. Legislators were required to wait at least three days after the report was submitted before voting.

• April 4, 6:00 to 8:30 pm, Council Bluffs Library, ICN Room

• April 5, 7:00 to 9:00 pm, Mississippi Bend Area Education Agency

• April 6, 6:30 to 9:00 pm, Kirkwood Community College, ICN Room

• April 7, 7:00 to 9:00 pm, Wallace State Office Building Auditorium

April 2011: Redistricting maps approved

Iowa approved the first round of redistricting maps offered by the Iowa Legislative Services Agency. The plan passed by a 48-1 margin in the State Senate and a 90-7 margin in the Iowa House. All three maps -- Congressional, state senate, and state house -- were included in the proposal. On April 19, Governor Terry Branstad signed the plan into law.

The few 'no' votes surrounded the splitting of Cedar Rapids and Iowa City into different congressional districts and criticism that the maps did not give distinct representation to some rural and urban interests.

The maps as approved can be found below. The state also released several interactive maps integrated into Google Maps--Congress, State Senate, State House.

Iowa Redistricting: 2000 vs. 2010 Census Maps

This map shows the Iowa Congressional Districts after the 2000 census. This map shows 2010 Congressional districts as approved. This map shows the Iowa State Senate Districts after the 2000 census. This map shows the Iowa House Districts after the 2000 census. This map shows the 2010 state senate and state house districts as approved. Each Senate district was divided into two house districts, as noted by the blue lines.

Timeline

The Iowa Legislative Service Agency (LSA) was to produce a map by April 1, 2011. Three public hearings were then required before the Iowa Legislature voted on whether the maps were approved. However, lawmakers could not amend the map or block the map in committee. If the plan failed to pass, another had to be sent within 35 days. In the event that this plan failed, another amendable plan was to be submitted to the legislature. The General Assembly was to approve a plan by September 1, 2011, and the governor had to sign it by September 15, 2011.

History

The state's redistricting system was first used in 1981. Prior to 1981, the state faced multiple lawsuits over redistricting which effectively placed redistricting in the hands of the Iowa Supreme Court. As a result of the current system, incumbents have been paired into new districts. This has resulted in hotly contested primaries between incumbents who have served in separate districts.

Pre-2010 maps

The images in Figure 2 and Figure 3 to the right show legislative districts as they appear after the 2000 census and prior to the 2010 redistricting. The image in Figure 1 shows Iowa's congressional districts as they appear after the 2000 census.

Deviation from Ideal Districts

2000 population deviation
Office		Percentage
Congressional districts		0.02%
State House districts		1.89%
State Senate districts		1.46%
Under federal law, districts could vary from an Ideal District by up to 10%, though the lowest number achievable was preferred. Ideal Districts were computed through simple division of the number of seats for any office into the population at the time of the Census.

See also

• State Legislative and Congressional Redistricting after the 2010 Census
• State-by-state redistricting procedures

External links

• State Redistricting Index
• Legislative Guide to Redistricting
• Nonpartisan Approach to Redistricting
• Guide to Redistricting in Iowa
• Do-it-yourself Redistricting Game from Des Moines Register