Gov. Andy Beshear tore up state House and Congressional redistricting maps on Wednesday night calling the maps political gerrymandering.
Beshear issued his vetoes of Senate Bill 2 and Senate Bill 3 on Wednesday evening, calling into question how the districts were redrawn to benefit Republicans. The General Assembly has veto proof majorities in the House and Senate making the vetoes moot, and potentially moving the issue into the courts.
Beshear struck drawn the newly drawn Congressional district map specifically referencing the 1st Congressional District which stretches from the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to Franklin County in an oddly drawn U-shape.
“Under this map, someone driving from Lexington to Louisville would cross five of the state’s congressional districts, but it would take over four hours to get from one side of the First District to the other,” Beshear wrote in his veto message.
Beshear cited political gerrymandering and lack of public input in the plan in his veto message of the bill.
On the House redistricting plan, House Bill 2, Beshear said the plan prevents “some communities from having their voices heard in Frankfort,” again calling the bill gerrymandered.
“This redistricting plan appears designed to deprive certain communities of representation,” Beshear wrote in his veto message. “In particular, it excessively splits counties, including Fayette, Boone, Hardin, and Campbell, and carves up other counties such as Jefferson and Warren for partisan reasons, contrary to the Kentucky Constitution.”
Beshear said the House plan also “appears to dilute the voices of certain minority communities,” he did not elaborate on which communities he felt were being impacted.
