Oregon Closes In on Redistricting Map
Oregon legislative leaders have agreed to new Congressional district lines, the Portland Oregonian reported Wednesday.
Should the full Legislature approve the plan, it would mark the first time since 1981 that the state’s Congressional redistricting was not decided in the courts.
The two parties compromised on what to do with Portland’s Multnomah County, a Democratic stronghold that’s divided among three current districts.
Republicans had wanted all of Multnomah in one district. In return for the GOP dropping that demand, Democrats agreed to lessen the county’s footprint in the districts of Democratic Reps. David Wu and Kurt Schrader, thereby making them more competitive.
Legislators were close to adjourning the session this week without passing a redistricting plan, and there was doubt earlier Wednesday that a map could be hashed out by the end of the week.