This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Just-released 2010 census data show far more robust population growth in Republican Utah legislative districts than in Democratic areas.
That may force merging some Democratic districts — maybe one in the state Senate and two in the House — to give more representation to faster-growing Republican-controlled areas. The Utah Constitution requires that each district has roughly the same population to ensure that residents have equal representation.
That news had Republican leaders giddy, and brought more woes to Democrats — who are already far outnumbered by 22-7 in the state Senate and 58-17 in the House.
"I'm not willing to concede that Democrats will lose seats," said Senate Minority Leader Ross Romero, D-Salt Lake City. "But it may make some districts that are now safely Democratic more competitive, and some that are safely Republican more competitive, too" if Democrats are able to convince Republican to move lines as they hope.
Census results show that next year, after redistricting, the typical state Senate district should have about 95,000 residents (determined by dividing the state's population of 2.76 million by 29 districts) and the 75 House districts should have about 37,000 residents each.
New data show that the existing seven Democratic-controlled Senate districts all have far fewer than that typical 95,000 residents — between 8 and 21 percent fewer. Combined, they have 101,000 fewer residents than needed to meet the average, and most are bunched together in Salt Lake County.
Senate President Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, says that likely "means there will be one less Democratic district" in the Senate unless Democrats can find a way to convince Republican majorities to shave off a little from their districts without forcing Democratic districts to merge.
"I don't see how they can," Waddoups added.
Meanwhile, Republican Senate seats combined gained about 100,000 in population — and Waddoups said GOP-represented districts with big growth in such places as Utah and Washington counties deserve more representation.
A similar woe faces Democrats in the House. All 17 districts there controlled by Democrats also have fewer than the ideal 37,000 residents — ranging from 1 to 17 percent fewer.
Combined, they have about 80,000 fewer residents than ideally they should have, meaning it could force two districts controlled by Democrats to merge to give extra seats to Republican areas that gained about 81,000 people combined.
House Minority Assistant Whip Brian King, D-Salt Lake City, conceded, "There very well may have to be a consolidation of Democratic districts in Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County."
But he adds, "That doesn't mean we will lose seats. That depends on the results of the next election. But it does mean there will likely be a consolidation of some districts" now held by Democrats.
While legislators were looking at such numbers within hours of the Thursday release of census data, leaders say that serious work on redistricting will not begin until after the current session of the Legislature ends. Waddoups said work will begin in April and go through the summer with public hearings. —
Redistricting
The once-a-decade census means Utah will go through redistricting, or redrawing of political maps, later this year. The objective is to ensure that districts have equal populations so that everyone's vote carries equal weight. The new numbers show that areas leaning Republican have grown more in Utah than Salt Lake County areas where Democrats are in the majority.