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The Oregon Supreme Court today announced it had dismissed two different challenges to the new legislative boundaries lawmakers drew earlier this year.
The court’s decisions were first reported by Oregon Public Broadcasting.
Redistricting, which takes place once a decade after the completion of the federal census, is an inherently political process. In Oregon, it is carried out by lawmakers, a supermajority of whom are Democrats. (Some states employ unelected panels to try to make the process less partisan, but it’s a contentious process everywhere because district lines play a key role in determining likely legislative majorities.)
One of the lawsuits, brought by former state Rep. Pat Sheehan (R-Clackamas) and Lake Oswego lawyer Samantha Hazel, challenged the entire legislative map, which includes 60 House and 30 Senate districts. The other suit, filed by former state. Sen. Kevin Mannix (R-Salem), focused more narrowly on two House districts in Lane County.
Sheehan and Hazel argued that lawmakers adopted the overall map for partisan benefit, in violation of state law. Mannix, on behalf of his clients David Calderwood and Gordon Culbertson, argued that House Districts 8 and 12 were drawn in a way that violated state law on keeping communities of interest intact wherever possible and that lawmakers did so to benefit an incumbent: state Sen. Floyd Prozanski (D-Eugene).
The Supreme Court justices unanimously rejected both arguments. (Chief Justice Martha Walters did not participate.) Their opinions, penned by Justice Christopher Garrett, who as a state representative from Lake Oswego co-chaired the 2011 redistricting process, found that ”neither petition had established noncompliance with applicable law.”
On a personal level, the decision in the Lane County case is a blow to state Rep. Marty Wilde (D-Eugene), who criticized House leadership for a process that resulted in his now living in the Republican-dominated district represented by incumbent state Rep. Cedric Hayden (R-Roseburg).
Related: Oregon Democrats Redrew One of Their Own Out of His District—When He Couldn’t Defend Himself.
House Minority Leader Christine Drazan (R-Canby) expressed disappointment in the dismissal of the challenges.
“This court decision approves a legislative redistricting map that predetermines election results for the next decade,” Drazan said. “Democrats have significantly reduced competition by picking which party will represent most House or Senate districts. That’s not a real choice for Oregonians. That’s gerrymandering.”
It is a also victory for House Speaker Tina Kotek (D-Portland), who took a lot of heat for first allowing Republicans equal representation on the redistricting committee in April despite their being in the minority and then later in September changed the composition of the committee drawing congressional district lines to give Democrats a majority on that committee. A court challenge to the congressional map, which includes a new, 6th Congressional District centered in Marion County, is still pending.
“Today’s decision by the Oregon Supreme Court affirms that the Legislature passed state legislative maps that are fair, legal and constitutional,” Kotek said in a statement. “Legislators did stellar work to complete their constitutional duty in a very condensed timeline and got the job done for the people of Oregon.”