redistricting

The New Mexico Supreme Court issued an order Monday affirming a lower court’s ruling that the state’s congressional map is constitutional. The state Republican Party had appealed, arguing Democratic lawmakers “egregiously” gerrymandered the 2nd Congressional District, making it difficult for their party to win even one of the state’s three seats.

The state Supreme Court on Monday heard arguments in the New Mexico Republican Party’s appeal in a case that saw Democratic lawmakers cleared of accusations of egregious partisan gerrymandering in the state's 2nd Congressional District. The question before the high court is whether Democrats had to guarantee their party’s victory to have drawn the map illegally, or simply make it harder for the GOP to win.

The Republican Party of New Mexico has appealed a district court ruling on the state’s congressional map, which upheld it as constitutional.

A New Mexico judge on Friday upheld the state’s congressional map as constitutional in a trial over whether the Democrats, who control the Legislature, illegally drew the boundaries in 2021 to guarantee their party’s victory.

Attorneys for the state Republican Party and other plaintiffs have filed new evidence in the New Mexico redistricting case ahead of a ruling later this week. The plaintiffs argue the Democratic-controlled Legislature intentionally diluted GOP votes in the 2nd Congressional District, which used to lean Republican. They say newly-surfaced text messages and emails back that up.

What was scheduled to be a three-day bench trial to determine whether New Mexico Democrats illegally drew the boundaries of the state’s congressional map in 2021 ended a day early on Thursday. While the courtroom proceedings are done, more evidence in the case is yet to come.

In their opening statement, attorneys for the plaintiffs alleged that GOP lawmakers had no say in the map, that the Democrats moved voters around unnecessarily, and that statistical analysis shows the map wasn’t drawn fairly.

A trial begins Wednesday over New Mexico's congressional map. Unlike some other active fights over redistricting, it's the state's Democratic lawmakers who are accused of crafting illegal districts.

The Republican Party and other plaintiffs argue Democratic lawmakers diluted GOP votes when they split the conservative southeastern corner of the state into three districts. Democrats argue redistricting is an inherently political process, but lawmakers acted appropriately in drawing a set of competitive districts.

New Mexico is the latest state to look to the courts to make a call on whether legislative maps were drawn fairly. A deadline is approaching for a district court here to decide whether the state’s new congressional map egregiously favors Democrats, as the state Republican Party argues. A group of non-partisan advocates and redistricting experts have submitted proposed guidance to the judge for making his decision.