Daviess County would drop from being part of five State House districts to three if the plan unveiled Thursday by the House Republican caucus is adopted next week.
Essentially, the 11th and 12th Districts will no longer extend into Daviess County. The boundaries of the 7th and 13th Districts will expand, while the 14th District is largely just shifting geographically. Specific changes affecting Daviess County are detailed below.
Local legislators said it’s a beneficial move for the county, as in the past there has been confusion among voters regarding who their representative is.
“Daviess County being split five ways before, there were several people that did not know who their state representative was,” said Rep. Suzanne Miles (7th District). “We all tried to help each other out and take care of constituents any way we could, but hopefully this will be a more precise way that people can more effectively know who represents them and hopefully have better access.”
Miles’ district would change significantly under the proposed map. Rather than representing three counties, her district would be entirely inside Daviess County. She said the new map would benefit everyone.
“I’ve represented three counties since I was elected,” she said. It’s kind of a bittersweet time, because you make relationships and attachments. But the other side to that is, it shouldn’t be about me personally. It should be the responsibility of coming up with a map that makes it easier for people to be represented. Prior to this, if I drove my district from end to end it took roughly two hours. That makes it harder to attend multiple events in multiple counties. Hopefully the end result of this is it’s a more responsible map than we’ve previously had.”
Rep. DJ Johnson (13th District) stressed that legislators are trying to get the redistricting plan approved as soon as possible once the session begins. He said it lets “both potential candidates and the people know exactly who’s going to be representing them in the next election.”
Assuming it does pass as presented, Johnson said he thinks the issues and priorities of his new constituents will be largely the same, but he plans to listen to any concerns they may have.
“I will be reaching out to the new precincts,” he said. “I will have meetings where I can get into a neighborhood and just introduce myself, find out what’s on their mind because they are new constituents. I’ll have the same general priorities, but I’ll make sure that I get a chance to hear what’s on their minds. If there’s anything specific that I need to work on, I’ll do it.”
Rep. Scott Lewis (13th District) said he would have liked for his district to cover the same area, but he understands that lines have to be redrawn every 10 years by law according to population changes.
Changes to Daviess County:
- 7th District (represented by Suzanne Miles)
- This district currently covers the southwest corner of Daviess County with a stretch through the middle of the county. It also spans all of Union County, and the western and southern portions of Henderson County.
- The proposal moves the entirety of the district within Daviess County lines. It would essentially cover the entire western portion of the county, along with a stretch through the middle.
- 11th District (represented by Jonathan Dixon)
- This district covers a portion of northwestern Daviess County and northern Henderson County.
- The proposal moves the district to covering the entirety of Henderson County and nothing more.
- 12th District (represented by Jim Gooch)
- This district covers a portion of southern Daviess County, along with all of McLean and Webster counties and a portion of Hopkins County.
- The proposal moves the district to covering the entirety of McLean, Webster, Union, and Crittenden counties and nothing more.
- 13th District (represented by DJ Johnson)
- This district largely covers the heart of Daviess County, with a similar outline to the City of Owensboro limits.
- The proposal expands coverage east and north, but is still contained entirely within county lines.
- 14th District (represented by Scott Lewis)
- This district covers much of eastern Daviess County, along with all of Ohio County.
- The proposal alters the coverage in Daviess County, though it’s still the majority of the western side and some of the southern area. It would also cover the entirety of Ohio and Hancock counties.
Why changes are being made
The Kentucky constitution requires lawmakers to redraw legislative district boundaries to reflect population shifts since the last census.
The statewide redistricting plan statewide will be filed for consideration Tuesday when lawmakers convene the 2022 Regular Session. House Speaker David Osborne provided a preview of the plan during a press conference at the State Capitol Annex on Thursday. This will be the first time in history that the Republican Majority Party crafts legislative districts in Kentucky.
“We have only one chance to draw it the first time, so it was important to us that we get it right,” Osborne said. “This proposal represents a committed effort to meet all legal considerations while maximizing every community’s influence to the greatest extent possible. We worked to make districts more compact, while still maintaining as much continuity as possible for constituents.”
In addition to filing redistricting measures, lawmakers anticipate filing legislation that would extend the deadline to file for public office until Jan. 25. (It’s currently Jan. 7.)
According to Osborne and Representative Jerry T. Miller, Chair of the House State Government Committee and the plan’s primary sponsor, the House plan includes provisions that:
- Sets the population of every district within the 5% plus or minus deviation required under Kentucky Supreme Court precedent. Districts range between -4.39% and 4.8%.
- Establishes areas currently experiencing high growth on the lower end of the deviation to meet the needs of growing districts.
- Divides the fewest number of counties possible; 21 counties must be divided by law and the state population requires an additional two be divided.
- Complies with the Voting Rights Act and all other legal and constitutional requirements.
- Creates districts that are entirely contiguous and as compact as practicable given variables like topography and existing county precinct lines.
