Redistricting plan puts Nelson in Northern Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette
Friday, Jan. 6, 2012 – Redistricting is one of the top priorities as the first week of the 2012 session of the Kentucky General Assembly comes to a close, and Nelson is one of the counties that appears to be slated for change.
The proposed Congressional redistricting plan will move Nelson from the 2nd Congressional District to Northern Kentucky's 4th District. Click map to enlarge.
The latest redistricting map proposed by the Democratic-led House moves Nelson County out of the 2nd Congressional District and shifts it to Northern Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District.
If approved, Nelson County would be the county on the extreme southwestern end of the revised 4th District. Hebron Republican U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis is not seeking re-election this year. If the redistrict plan is approved, Nelson County voters will help elect his replacement.
Nelson County has been in the 2nd Congressional District for decades; while generally considered a Democratic district, the 2nd District voters have supported Republican candidates since the death of U.S. Rep. William Natcher in 1994.
The plan would also shift Shelby and Spencer County to the historically Republican 4th District, as well as eastern portions of Jefferson and Bullitt counties. The goal, according to a Facebook post by 50th District state Rep. David Floyd, is to make the 6th Congressional District more secure for U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, who narrowly avoided defeat by a political unknown in his last election.
The current plan would move Marion and Washington County from the 2nd to the Chandler’s 6th Congressional District.
According to Floyd, the proposed maps for state House and Senate districts are still under wraps.
The final congressional redistricting plan must get the approval of both the state House and Senate. Redistricting is an important task the General Assembly will need to finish or the filing deadline for political offices will need to be pushed back. Currently the deadline is 4 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012.
-30-
