The Evolution of Colorado's Third District

Keywords: Redistricting, Critical Cartography, Political Geography, Colorado
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

Redistricting is often confusing and shrouded in mystery. In recent years, Colorado, along with many other states, has taken great steps to make redistricting more transparent and inclusive, adopting an independent redistricting commission and encouraging public participation in the process. In the 2021 redistricting cycle, Coloradans submitted nearly 2500 online comments, generated 140 of their own district maps, and participated in 250 hours of public hearings. Across the state, the most feedback came from residents of Colorado’s Third Congressional District, the state’s largest and most sparsely populated congressional district by area. This paper seeks to ground the production of the district, using discourse analysis of Coloradans’ feedback to better understand how and why district lines were drawn the way they were. While composed of a mostly rural population, District 3 is also home to most of Colorado’s tribal lands and a significant portion of the state’s Hispano population in the Southwest corner of the state. The drawing of District 3 to include both Indigenous and Hispanic Coloradans among the much whiter and wealthier communities of Northwest Colorado and other white but socio-economically challenged communities stretching out into the Eastern Plains stands to disenfranchise communities living across the district. The deceptive flattening of space is a fundamental flaw of not only geographically drawn districts, but also cartography and borders more broadly. Looking at the evolution of congressional districts can help us to better understand both the possibilities for equitable political representation and the limits of borders for fixing politics in place.