Changes Made To Minnesota’s First Congressional District
St Paul (KROC AM News) - A map showing new congressional and legislative boundaries was released Tuesday and it shows some voters in southeast Minnesota have been affected by population changes.
The maps and new political boundaries were drawn up by a five-judge panel appointed by the Minnesota Supreme Court after the legislature failed to reach an agreement on changes resulting from the 2020 census.
The First Congressional District which primarily includes counties in southeast and south-central Minnesota has picked up two more - Goodhue and Wabasha.
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Those two counties were part of the 2nd District, although they were in the First District in the past. They were added back to the First because its population growth was smaller than in the 2nd District.
Here is the panel's report on the First District findings:
Some cities in the first district grew substantially, and Rochester remains the district’s population center and the state’s third-largest city. But this primarily rural district grew at a rate slower than the state as a whole, requiring the addition of 22,586 people to meet the ideal district population. As the panel heard consistently from the public, there are two natural additions—Wabasha and Goodhue Counties. Both have significant ties to Rochester and are predominantly rural. They border the Mississippi River and are part of the karst geological region, along with other counties in the first district. And both Wabasha and Goodhue Counties have been part of the first district in the past. By adding Wabasha and Goodhue Counties, all of the populated tribal lands of the Prairie Island Indian Community now lie within the first district. The Minnesota reservation lands of the Ho-Chunk Nation remain in the first district.
The First District is represented by Republican Jim Hagedorn. Democrat Angie Craig represents the 2nd District.
Changes in state legislative boundaries have also been released.
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