A U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding redistricting is expected to be announced this month. As Arizona Public Radio’s Ryan Heinsius reports, it has many in Arizona looking ahead to the 2016 general election.
Political analysts say the Supreme Court’s decision about who would control district boundaries could affect the race for the open seat in Arizona’s First Congressional District.
Fred Solop, a professor of politics and international affairs at Northern Arizona University, says that could impact CD1, the state’s largest district.
“If the Supreme Court sides with the state legislature and if the state legislature redraws the districts, what we know as CD1 will change. It will be a different district, and our district will be more Republican-oriented than it is today,” Solop says.
Solop says the case could change the electoral makeup of the state.
“We do see some movement taking place. Ann Kirkpatrick throwing her hat in the ring for the Senate. Maybe that’s anticipation of CD1 becoming a more Republican-oriented district, a less competitive district. She may be reading the tea leaves of her future and trying something else,” Solop says.
Arizona is one of nearly a dozen states, including California, whose independent redistricting committees could be dismantled as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision.
