State legislators are starting the re-districting process following the census last year. Here’s report from Patrick Malone writing for The Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:
The process takes place every 10 years when fresh census data are released. In hopes of keeping districts competitive and avoiding the courts deciding those boundaries, the group was created as a buffer to partisan bickering that could derail those objectives. “In large part, the communities in the 3rd Congressional District are rural,” [ate Sen. Gail Schwartz] said. “They share agricultural interests and outdoor recreational economies. It’s also important to protect the water in that district in particular.” Folding metropolitan areas along the Front Range into the 3rd Congressional District would place the coveted water of the Western Slope in peril, Schwartz said. So she opposes redrawing the 3rd Congressional District in a way that would include more urban centers. However, Schwartz contends that Pueblo by virtue of being less parched than some larger cities and more attuned to rural interests because of its neighboring farming hubs is a natural fit for the 3rd Congressional District that spans the Western Slope.