District 44 will change, but everyone will still be represented

The legislature has been meeting in special session since September 13th for the purpose of redistricting six government entities. During the redistricting process we know the 44th legislative district is going to change. There is not enough population in the 10 counties that make up the 44th district and therefore it does not meet the threshold of minimum population. The current boundaries have a base population of 36,000 people per district. With the growth in Nebraska in the past 10 years, the 49 districts need to have roughly 40,000 people within each district.

Hopefully by the time you read this article the legislature will have solved most of the redistricting issues, but only time will tell. Probably the one thing of most interest to the 44th legislative district is the make up of what the 44th district will look like. There were two maps that were introduced redrawing legislative boundaries, one is LB 3 by Senator Linehan of Elkhorn which did change the district’s boundaries. In this bill, the 44th district will lose the counties of Perkins, Frontier, and Gosper. It would pick up the counties of Franklin and Webster and it also would encompass the city of Holdredge in Phelps County.

In LB 4, introduced by Senator Justin Wayne of Omaha, the counties of Perkins, Chase, Dundy, Hayes, and Hitchock would become part of the 47th legislative district which is currently served by Senator Steve Erdman of Bayard. Frontier County would become part of the 42 district, which would also include McPherson, Logan and Lincoln Counties; this district is currently represented by Senator Groene, but will have a new senator due to term limits. The counties of Red Willow, Furnas, Harlan, Franklin, Webster, Clay, Nuckolls and a portion of Phelps County would move to district 38 which is currently being represented by Senator Dave Murman, who is up for re-election. Gosper County would be part of the 36th district which would also have a new senator. District 44 would then become the number of a new district in western Sarpy County.

I want to make it clear that everyone who is currently in the 44th district will be represented by a senator. Also, you will all be represented by a new senator in January of 2023 because I will be term limited out. Regardless of where the district boundaries end up, you will still be represented and some of you will have an opportunity to vote on a new senator or retain an existing senator in the November 2022 election. This process is ever changing and maps are being drawn up as I write this article, so what I have explained above might look different in the end. One thing that is sure, the 44th legislative district will change. The current 10 counties in District 44 will either need to grow in size in order to meet the new population threshold or the counties will need to be divided out in a way that gives each of the 49 legislative districts roughly the same amount of population.