Senate Minority Leader Ross Romero will be lumped into the same district as a fellow Democratic incumbent under Utah’s redistricting plan.
But he’s not complaining. Romero wasn’t planning to run for re-election anyway.
The high-profile Democrat, who lives in Sugar House, announced last month that he will run to replace Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon, who doesn’t plan to seek a third term in 2012.
The announcement dulls the impact of a redistricting plan that otherwise would have required Romero to run against Sen. Patricia Jones, D-Holladay, to keep his seat in the Senate.
However, the new political boundaries will have an impact on constituents in Olympus Cove and Sugar House. Those neighborhoods — now represented by Romero — will be broken up and annexed by neighboring districts once the governor signs the redistricting proposal passed this month by the Legislature.
The new maps move the boundaries of Jones’ District 4 further north and east, adding Olympus Cove’s high-end neighborhoods on the east bench and the trendy neighborhoods of Sugar House.
The district will lose most of Murray and some of Millcreek Township, with its new western boundary following Highland Drive, 1300 East and the Van Winkle Expressway. It also will lose the commercial northwest corner of Cottonwood Heights.
“This is a better map for the people in that area,” Jones said of her new district. “It’s just a much more cohesive community of common interests.”
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Published Feb 22, 2012 01:39:39PM
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Romero raised no opposition to the new district lines.
“We were trying to keep communities of interest together,” he said.
Jones said the new district — which closely resembles her old one — includes neighborhoods that historically have shared school districts, community events and retail areas.
Although Jones will inherit neighborhoods previously represented by a Democrat, she is not counting on a free pass in the next election. She said constituents in the district tend to vote on issues rather than parties.
“They’re people that really are paying attention,” she said. “They care about property taxes, about their grandchildren, about air quality. They are very engaged in asking questions. The people here tend to be open-minded; they usually vote for the person, and they seem to be willing not to vote party-line.”
