There is still time to oppose the CCP’s extreme gerrymandered redistricting maps

The New Mexico Citizens Redistricting Committee held its last public meeting on Friday to hear what the public has to say about redistricting and their needs. The Committee heard from communities of interest from across the state, including Native American, Hispanic, and other communities that offered their ideas for what proper representation means. 

The Center for Civic Policy (CCP), a dark money group funded heavily by out-of-state billionaire financier George Soros, who destabilized the British Pound at the Bank of England, and millionaire Rob McKay, whose foundation had its non-profit status revoked in 2018, is trying to partisanly gerrymander the map to favor one side. 

The group claims its extremely partisan congressional map (Concept H) is the “people’s map,” but it would erase the only Native American member of New Mexico’s congressional delegation — GOP Rep. Yvette Herrell — and likely place in a far-leftist. The map would also segregate the South Valley of Albuquerque into the Second District and lump a large chunk of Albuquerque into a strange district that sprawls all the way to Roswell. The strange shape of the districts also would lump Hobbs with communities like Española and Santa Fe, which have astronomically different cultures and needs.

The CCP’s state legislative map (Concept G) does much of the same, achieving an extreme partisan gerrymander while also erasing rural representation. It would chop communities like Clovis into thirds while not taking into account the needs of energy-producing, farming, ranching, and other communities that are the backbone of the state’s economy. The map also takes into account at least 8 Native American-majority districts to ensure fair representation. The CCP’s map does not have this many Tribal districts.

Members are urged to comment using what Members Lisa Curtis and Robert Rhatigan have had to say at the August 2, 2021 meeting that radical changes should not happen unless there is overwhelming support for such changes:

Board Member Curtis said, “It seems like a radical change to any of the districts — since we’re not an elected body — … the public would have to say ‘we want a radical change.’” Member Curtis said, “there would have to be overwhelming support for a radical change from the current districts” and “We are imposing something on people if we’re doing radical change without the public jumping up and saying ‘this is what we want.’” 

Board Member Rhatigan added, “…unless there’s overwhelming public consensus to change the general composition of our three congressional districts, I’m inclined to draw districts that we have one [representative] in Albuquerque and we have one northern district and a southern district.”

Members of the public still have time to make their voices heard by submitting comment in the Redistricting Committee’s comment portal. Citizens are urged to advocate against the CCP’s maps while supporting the “Rural Representation” map proposed by Megan Richardson and state House map concept B. 

For the Congressional map, citizens should ask for minimal changes in the redistricting of the three congressional districts, supporting Concepts A, B, C, or G. Concept H, the CCP’s map should be advocated against for its clear partisanship. Ex-state Sen. and far-left Committee Member Michael Sanchez took offense on Friday to the words “extreme” and“radical” to talk about the CCP’s maps, which appears to show he is trying to advocate for them.

YOUR ACTION TO OPPOSE EXTREME REDISTRICTING IS VITAL FOR THE FUTURE OF OUR STATE.

Please submit comments by Friday, October 15, when the Committee will adopt concept maps to propose to the Legislature.

If nothing else, the commentary submitted against the CCP’s maps is the most important in defeating the far-left, partisan maps that do the diametric opposite of the Citizens Redistricting Committee’s purpose — to give the power to the PEOPLE, not out-of-state-funded dark money groups.