Salazar won't touch suit

Salazar won't touch suit

May 13, 2003

Rocky Mountain News

GOP seeks attorney as court fight looms over redistricting

By John J. Sanko

Democrats and Republicans skirmished in their redistricting war Monday, with the secretary of state admitting she's shopping for an attorney and the Senate president admitting GOP congressmen had a hand in the new map.

Attorney General Ken Salazar, the state's highest-ranking Democratic officeholder and the person who would normally defend Secretary of State Donetta Davidson, says he won't represent her. He said the map and the way it was enacted violates the Colorado Constitution.

"We know we have to hire (a lawyer)," said Lisa Doran, a spokeswoman for the Republican secretary of state. "We haven't made any decisions yet, but we're definitely working on it."

Davidson and the Colorado General Assembly were named as defendants in a lawsuit filed late Friday by Democrats. It charges that in the final three days of this year's session, the GOP majority unlawfully redrew congressional boundaries to increase GOP voter margins in at least two districts.

Davidson and the General Assembly have until May 9 to respond.

Republican legislative leaders intend to hire outside attorneys to represent them in the court fight.

"We'll just get the best counsel we can," said Senate President John Andrews, R-Centennial. "We think this is of national significance. We're going to be looking for the best.

"But when I say it's of national significance, that is not to validate the wild conspiracy theories that it originated in Washington . This is a homegrown political battle. It climaxed in three days, but it has been brewing for 30 months."

Andrews conceded there was some Washington involvement from the state's own Republican members of Congress.

"You don't redraw the map and figure you can hold your votes in the Statehouse and Senate unless your sitting Republican members of Congress feel comfortable about the boundary changes," Andrews said.

"So that was quietly checked out over the course of a number of weeks."

In redistricting cases, hiring outside counsel is nothing new. Both Davidson and Republican Gov. Bill Owens hired outside attorneys to represent them in the congressional redistricting battle settled last year by a Denver judge when lawmakers couldn't compromise.

Another recent suit in which the governor hired outside counsel occurred a year and a half ago when state employees sued the governor over new restrictions on payroll deductions. Salazar declined to represent the state on that issue.

Owens supports the latest redistricting.

He said that in 2001, Democrats stonewalled attempts in both the regular and special sessions to reach a compromise agreement on a map, forcing the issue into the courts.

"The process was very political in 2001 and 2002, and it obviously remains political today," Owens said. "The (state) Constitution requires the legislature to redistrict, and this legislature is attempting to do that."

The law firm that filed the complaint Friday on behalf of Democrats, Kelly, Haglund, Garnsey and Kahn, represented U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette in the 2001-02 court battle over redistricting.

DeGette, a Denver Democrat, said Monday she had no inkling that a new map would be pushed through the legislature.

"Every indication I've had is that the White House was calling and that it helped orchestrate what happened," DeGette said. "I really think Republicans want to solidify their hold on Congress."

DeGette said her GOP colleagues were shown maps in March, "but no one ever talked to me. The first I ever saw a map was on Monday when it was introduced in the Colorado Senate.

"It's a raw power grab - nothing less," added DeGette, whose own district remains solidly Democrat.

Although Salazar's office won't represent the secretary of state, it has consulted with her and will be providing any legal assistance she may need, short of actually being in the courtroom, said Ken Lane , a spokesman for the attorney general.

Salazar "has talked to Donetta several times," Lane said. "There are a number of legal issues involved, including implementing the law, and we've been offering advice. It's very important."

The Colorado case already is drawing national attention amid charges that the White House and its top political strategist, Karl Rove, were behind it.

The Texas legislature is going through a similar fight. Republicans are trying to push through a map that could help them pick up four to seven congressional seats in the 2004 elections.

There was a walkout Monday by Democrats in the Texas House, similar to what occurred in the Colorado Senate when the bill was pushed through on initial reading.

"Colorado is in the forefront of this issue, no doubt about that," said Tom Downey, a lawyer who represented Colorado House Democrats in the fight that led to a Denver court approving the state's congressional boundary lines last year.

Downey says people are dreaming if they don't believe there was strong White House support for the latest move.

"I don't think there's a war room or that Karl Rove (Bush's top political adviser) actually drew the map," Downey said. "That doesn't make sense. But I do believe he (Rove) said, 'Now we control the legislature - let's ramrod something through.' "

SankoJ@RockyMountainNews.com or (303) 892-5404