| Albuquerque, October 14–Today the Republican Party of New Mexico submitted the following comments to the Citizen Redistricting Committee regarding proposed redistricting maps: |
| RPNM Comments on Redistricting Maps RPNM, after reviewing the proposed maps for congressional districts, would like to submit comments on Map A and Map H. Support of map A CD-2 registration under this map is equitable: 38% republican, 38% democrat 25% other55.8% HispanicCD-2 is well balanced, a true toss-up seat. Very few of these exist among the 435 US House seats.CD-1 and CD-3 are heavily weighted to Democrats under Map A but that is reflective of the population. There is no gerrymandering, the districts are contiguous and straightforward. Albuquerque will always have a representative. Opposition to Map H The concept of customs and culture is one of the most important concepts in governance. In fact, many federal laws have limitations to prevent disrupting the customs and cultures of distinct populations. The following egregious violations of representations of custom and culture are noted pertaining to Map H: Map H diminishes the voice of a very distinct culture that exists in the part of the state where Acequias are an important cultural impact but even more the customs of the water divisions along the acequias is an important part of life. (note the comments of Paula Garcia, long time head of the Acequia Association regarding Map I which has great similarity to Map A.) Map H stretches from the southeast corner to the northwest corner of the state, a distance of 500 miles and an 8-10 hour drive. Inevitably, events will be scheduled on the same date at different places in any district (July 4, Memorial Day, Veteran’s Day, Cinco de Mayo, etc.) The long distances present a significant obstacle for an elected representative being able to be with different groups on significant days. Map H attempts to portray Albuquerque’s South Valley small farms as being the same as the agriculture of the commercial farms of the lower Rio Grande Valley. That is a supposition pushed by a political agenda in which those advocating for this map evidently have little to no knowledge of the customs and culture of the South Valley or those of the Rio Grande Valley commercial agriculture. Map H runs the risk of Albuquerque Metro having all 3 representativesConversely Map H runs the risk of Albuquerque having no representative. The customs and culture of the Metro area are distinctly different from the rest of the state so either outcome (all or none from Albuquerque) is deeply undesirabl The vast majority of the land in New Mexico is rural, Map H quite likely will result in rural areas having no voice in Congress. In dividing up the voice of Albuquerque, Map H runs the risk of having a diminished voice for the National Labs; both Sandia Labs and Los Alamos Labs are key job providers in the state. Other states would gladly pluck those high paying PhD jobs from a New Mexico that has no Albuquerque representative. Sincerely, Republican Party of New Mexico Officers Steve Pearce, Chairman Kim Skaggs, Executive Director Robert Aragon, 1st Vice Chair Bob Graham, 2nd Vice Chair Jim Townsend, New Mexico GOP National Committeeman Tina Dziuk, New Mexico GOP National Committeewoman Amy Barela, CD-2 Vice Chair Anita Statman, CD-3 Vice Chair Mari Trujillo Spinelli, Secretary David Chavez, Treasurer |
