A political void opens in Southern Colorado as two influential lawmakers end their General Assembly careers next year. —
That's only the start of Pueblo County's political quandary.
In addition to losing two decades of legislative experience between its two representatives, including a half-dozen years in leadership, Pueblo County faces what a Democrat operative describes as a "puzzling" conundrum - getting cut up into different pieces.
Nobody, it appears, is happy about it.
The Colorado Supreme Court is about to rule on a redistricting map drawn by the Colorado Independent Redistricting Commission that gives Pueblo County, home to House Majority Leader Daneya Esgar and Senate President Leroy Garcia, four state House seats, instead of the current three.
Dennis Obduskey, communications director for the Pueblo Democratic Party and a vice-chair for HD46 and SD3 Dems, found the new House maps puzzling, although he also noted that, for once, Pueblo County is wholly contained within SD3.
“I’m not sure what they were thinking when they drew these House districts. They don’t make sense. Why break up Pueblo County like this?” he said. "I’m concerned what these final maps will mean for the candidates.”
New maps, new scramble
House District 46, Esgar’s seat, is squarely within Pueblo city limits. So far, one candidate, Democrat Ralph O'Neal, is listed for that seat. Another candidate, Democrat Nick Hinrichsen, originally filed for that same seat, but the new map put him into HD 62, and he withdrew his candidacy. Instead, Hinrichsen, whose wife, Bri Buentello, represented HD47 in the 2019-2020 sessions, is running for Senate District 3.
Rep. Don Valdez, D-La Jara, currently represents HD 46, but he hopes to challenge U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Silt, in Congressional District 3. Should he end up winning a Democratic primary for Congress, he won’t run for a fourth and final term in the state House.
Democrat Robert Dimick, Jr. of Jaroso in Costilla County is so far the only candidate who filed for HD 62. His campaign contributions to date - $1,109 - have all come from outside of Colorado.
Meanwhile, HD 60, now represented by Rep. Ron Hanks, R-Canon City, currently does not include any portion of Pueblo County during the last decade.
The new map, however, grabs a small section of Pueblo County, notably the north end of the Pueblo West metro district.
More notably, it also includes all of Fremont County, which puts Hanks and Rep. Stephanie Luck, R-Penrose, into the same House district.
Luck’s district, HD 47, previously included Penrose, Pueblo West and then east to Otero County, including Rocky Ford and LaJunta. The new map, however, starts in eastern Pueblo County, with the southern half of Pueblo West, and goes to the Kansas state line.
HD 47 will be an open seat in 2022, and so far, no candidate has filed for it, according to TRACER, the state’s campaign finance website.
Hanks, who is seeking the Republican bid for U.S. Senate in 2022, hasn’t filed to run for re-election to his House seat. Luck isn't listed as a candidate for re-election, either.
A partisan consensus
Obduskey isn’t the only one perturbed over how the maps got drawn.
Doris Morgan, a resident of Pueblo West and a former staffer to U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, also balked at the proposed final maps.
Through her attorney, Suzanne Taheri, Morgan filed an amicus brief on Oct. 22 with the state Supreme Court over how the redistricting commission drew Pueblo West.
In his brief, Morgan claimed the commission abused its authority by dividing Pueblo West in half based on Pueblo West’s designation as a “census-designated place.” That, Morgan said, is “statistically the equivalent of an incorporated city or town and functions with a governmental structure.”
Pueblo West should have been kept whole as a community of interest, he argued.
He cited unidentified comments submitted by area residents during the commission’s hearings. They, too, argued for a unified district.
One resident said Pueblo West is “not large enough to necessitate a split” and doing so dilutes its influence at the Capitol.
"There is no reason to draw an arbitrary line down the middle of our community and decrease our influence in the state legislature. All parts of Pueblo West have the same interests and basic concerns,” the resident said.
Another resident said Pueblo West is a “unique community with a sense of identity.”
“Pueblo West is classified as a Metro District, which makes it a community of interest,” the resident said, adding the new map diverges from the constitutional injunction against splitting communities of interest.
Morgan’s brief also noted that at least one map submitted to the commission would have kept Pueblo West within one House district.
Morgan argued that the final plan would diminish the ability of Pueblo West citizens to “obtain fair and effective representation on significant matters of concern – including shared interests in public policy concerns, such as education, recreation, governance, environment, transportation, water needs and supplies, and issues of regional significance.”
As the map stands now, 21,892 Pueblo West residents are in HD 47 and 11,242 are in HD 60.
Based on the law, each Senate district must have between 157,000 and 173,000 people, allowing for a 5% variance. House districts must be between 84,000 and 92,000 people each.
A political void opens in Southern Colorado as two influential lawmakers end their General Assembly careers next year.
The old guard
If – or when – the Supreme Court approves the final maps, Pueblo West will need to scramble to replace its veteran legislators.
Esgar had announced Nov. 5 that she wouldn’t seek the Senate District 3 seat in 2022.
Meanwhile, Garcia, who served one term in the House and by the end of 2022 two full terms in the Senate, is term-limited.
Esgar said she’s done, at least with the Colorado General Assembly.
“It has been the honor of my life to serve the people of Pueblo and the people of Colorado as a State Legislator over the last seven years,” Esgar said in a Facebook post. “As I prepare for the final session of my term in the Colorado House of Representatives, I want to share a piece of bittersweet news. I have decided that, despite the gracious encouragement from Pueblo voters, I will not be running for Colorado Senate next year.”
She cited as reason the birth of daughter Marlo with wife Heather Palm on July 12.
“My wife and I welcomed our daughter into our family earlier this year. While this is far from being the only reason I reached the decision not to run next year, I am very much looking forward to being able to spend quality time with my daughter and wife every single day,” Esgar wrote.
The Supreme Court’s decision on the legislative maps is due Monday, Nov. 15.
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