#ks03

Perhaps the most important redistricting issue for Lawrence residents will be the new boundaries for the 2nd and 3rd congressional districts. Lawrence is now split almost equally between the two districts, but higher population in the Kansas metropolitan area will make it necessary to trim the 3rd district and perhaps put more or all of Douglas County into the 2nd.

Legislative leaders already are anticipating a shift in power, especially to Johnson County, the state's most populous one, with southeast, northwest and north-central Kansas likely to lose clout. The 3rd Congressional District, centering on the Kansas City area, must shrink, while the 1st District of western and central Kansas will get larger.

The report shows that the 3rd Congressional District, which includes eastern Douglas County, has the largest population with 767,569 people. That is 112,000 more than the 1st Congressional District, 57,000 more than the 2nd, which includes western Douglas County, and 47,000 more than the Wichita-based 4th. To be equal in population, as the law requires, the congressional districts will have to have roughly 713,000 people each. That means the 3rd, which also includes Johnson and Wyandotte counties, must shed the most population. Could the Douglas County portion of the 3rd be rejoined with the portion in the 2nd, like it was before 2002? Rep. Paul Davis, D-Lawrence, said that’s a possibility.