Rove's Fingerprints on Colorado House Map

May 08, 2003

Political State Report

CO: Rove's Fingerprints on Colorado House Map

As expected, the Colorado House passed the US House redistricting plan which had been rammed through the Senate on Monday on a straight party line vote, with many Democrats refusing to vote after the Republicans voted not to permit debate. Next came the pleas of innocence from Represenatives Bob Beauprez and Scott McInnis, whose 7th and 3rd Districts were redrawn to include more Republican voters, and denials by Colorado Republican leaders that the surprise redistricting bill was part of some larger scheme to redraw boundaries in several states to protect the GOP's slender majority in Congress.

The credibility of the state legislature's leadership was undermined by the White House, where a spokesman admitted that indeed, Karl Rove was involved and had been in touch with an unidentified Colorado Republican legislator.

Meanwhile, the backlash has begun. Protestors demonstrated outside of Rep. Beauprez' office yesterday, State Rep. Abel Tapia of Pueblo decried the splitting of his city in half (a pretty obvious effort to dilute Latino Democratic votes), and Attorney General Ken Salazar issued a second opinion that the plan is unconstitutional and readied a lawsuit against it when, as expected, Governor Bill Owens signs it.