Minnesota enacted new state legislative district boundaries on Feb. 15 when a special judicial redistricting panel issued an order adopting final maps. These maps will take effect for Minnesota’s 2022 legislative elections.
Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea established the five-judge special redistricting panel in June 2021 to hear legal challenges regarding redistricting and adopt maps should the legislature not agree on them. The panel consisted of two state court of appeals justices and three state district court judges. Republican governors originally appointed two of the five justices, Democratic governors first appointed two, and former Gov. Jesse Ventura (Reform) originally appointed one justice.
On the day the redistricting panel issued the legislative district plan, Kyle Brown of KSTP wrote, “The changes to Minnesota’s legislative map are much more minuscule and require more analysis.”
After the 2010 census, Gov. Mark Dayton (D) vetoed state legislative district boundaries in May 2011 that the Republican-controlled legislature had adopted, and the Minnesota Supreme Court appointed a judicial panel to draw the lines. That panel issued its map on Feb. 21, 2012.
As of Feb. 15, 2022, 34 states have adopted legislative district maps for both chambers, and one state has adopted maps that have not yet gone into effect. The state supreme courts in two states have overturned previously enacted maps, and 13 states have not yet adopted legislative redistricting plans after the 2020 census.
Nationwide, legislative redistricting has been completed for 1,454 of 1,972 state Senate seats (73.7%) and 3,390 of 5,411 state House seats (62.7%).
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