Commission will decide location of Colorado’s new 8th seat congressional seat

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Colorado will have more representation in Washington by next year, following today’s announcement from the U.S. Census Bureau: Colorado is one of several states gaining an additional congressional seat.

It brings Colorado’s congressional seat total to eight and the state’s electoral college vote count to 10. Colorado Independent Redistricting Commissions will decide where the new district will be located what cities and counties will be voting together.

The redistricting commission is comprised of four Republicans, four Democrats, and four people who are unaffiliated from around the state. CSU Pueblo Professor Moussa Diawa represents Colorado Springs’ District 5 as an unaffiliated commissioner.

“We have been very busy, but today’s announcement makes it official,” said Diawa.

The current district map gives the Eastern Plains and Western Slope their own large, rural districts. El Paso County shares District 5 with Teller, Fremont, Park, and Chaffee counties. And while most districts fall along county lines, Diawa says there’s no rule against splitting counties or cities like what you see in Eagle County west of Denver.

The commission will ask for public input before finalizing the new district map.

“The next big step is two-fold,” said Diawa. “First, collect as much public info as we can in terms of public comment. And then we are going to have a working map and plan and aggressively conduct public hearings.”

Diawa says re-districting will need to be done by the end of the year.