Committee Shows New Legislative District Map

The latest redistricting commission has redrawn the legislative map.  The commission reached a deal Friday to redraw Idaho's district boundaries in order to even out the populations.

But now, some long-time legislators will find themselves facing off against other incumbents as early as next spring. House  Speaker Laurence Denney and House Majority Leader, Mike Moyle will both be facing an incumbent. Here in southern Idaho, Twin Falls County will be split into three different districts.  The city of Twin Falls will be one of those districts.  Twin Falls County  west of U.S. Highway 93 is grouped with Elmore and Owyhee counties in another district. The eastern part of Twin Falls County will join Cassia and Power counties in a district. The changes will put  incumbents against incumbents next year if all of them decide to run for re-election. Republican Rep. Stephen Hartgen will be in the same district as Twin Falls Republican Reps. Leon Smith and Sharon Block.  Republican Rep. Jim Patrick will be up against   Reps. Rich Wills  of Glenns Ferry, and Pete Nielsen of Mountain Home. Also in that new district,  Republican Sens. Bert Brackett  of Rogerson, and Tim Corder  of  Mountain Home would compete for one available seat.  With most of the incumbents coming from the same party, some primary elections will be more important than the general elections in November.  There were some possible huge matchups that were avoided with this map. The under fire John McGee will not have to face six-term Senator Patti Lodge. Also avoiding a potential showdown, Senators Denton Darrington and Dean Cameron, who have 26 total terms between them.  The new map does split 11 counties, potentially making it vulnerable to lawsuits given the Idaho Supreme Court has highlighted the importance of keeping counties together. But there's no indications of lawsuits yet. Also, the commission must still figure out a new congressional map. They plan to meet today