Redistricting in Montana after the 2010 census

Note: Redistricting takes place every 10 years after completion of the United States Census. The information here pertains to the 2010 redistricting process. For information on more recent redistricting developments, see this article.

Redistricting in Montana

General information

Partisan control: Republican

Process: Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission

Deadline: 30 days after legislature receives plan in 2013

Total seats

Congress: 1

State Senate: 50

State House: 100

This article details the timeline of redistricting events in Montana following the 2010 census. It also provides contextual information about the redistricting process and census information.

Process

See also: State-by-state redistricting procedures

The Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission was responsible for redistricting. It was one of 11 commissions nationwide that is responsible for redistricting. This redistricting commission was composed of 5 members, chosen by the following:

• 1 Appointed by the Majority Leader of the House
• 1 Appointed by the Minority Leader of the House
• 1 Appointed by the Majority Leader of the Senate
• 1 Appointed by the Minority Leader of the Senate

These four members selected the fifth member, who served as the Commission's Chairperson. In 2012, retired Montana Supreme Court Justice James Regnier was the chairman.

The Montana redistricting process did not take effect until 4 years into the decade -- a longer process than most states.

For example, the 1990 census did not take effect until 1994; the 2000 census until 2004; and the 2010 census was implemented in 2014.

With respect to redistricting, the Montana Constitution provided authority for an independent redistricting commission in Section 14 of Article V.

Leadership

Commission

The Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission was appointed in April 2009. The first four members were selected by Senate and House leaders. The four commissioners were unable to agree upon a fifth member, who was then appointed by the Court. The five members of the Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission were:

• Jim Regnier (appointed by Montana Supreme Court)
• Linda Vaughey (appointed by Senate Majority Leader)
• Joe Lamson (appointed by House Majority Leader)
• Pat Smith (appointed by Senate Minority Leader)
• Joe Bennion (appointed by House Minority Leader)

Criteria

The Districting and Apportionment Commission adopted redistricting criteria on May 28, 2010. In particular, the commission set the population deviation at 3% -- meaning no state legislative district could stray from the ideal population by 3%. During the 2000 redistricting process, the deviation used was 5%, which Republicans argued led to unfair redistricting. They said Democratic-leaning districts were typically under-populated while Republican districts were over-populated.

The deadline for completing redistricting was 2013.

Public hearings

A total of eight redistricting hearings were held between 2009-2010. Below are some of the public comments that were offered to the commission.

• May 14, 2010 Part 8
• May 14, 2010 Part 7
• May 14, 2010 Part 6
• May 14, 2010 Part 5
• May 14, 2010 Part 4
• May 14, 2010 Part 3
• May 14, 2010 Part 2
• May 14, 2010 Part 1
• April 12, 2010 Comment 1
• April 8, 2010 Comment 1

Partisan control

In the 2010 elections, Republicans gained an advantage in the Montana House of Representatives, picking up 17 seats to swing a previously tied chamber into a 2/3 majority. The Montana State Senate remained in Republican control, with the GOP gaining an additional seat to have a 28-22 majority. Montana had a longer process than most states for redistricting and so there was one more election -- in fall 2012 -- before the legislature voted on the redistricting plan. In these elections Republicans held their majorities in both chambers.

Census results

On March 14, 2011, the Census Bureau shipped Montana's local census data to the governor and legislative leaders. This data , which was used to guide redistricting for state and local office, is publicly available for downloading.

Incorporated places/County population changes

These tables show the change in population in the five largest incorporated places and counties in Montana from 2000-2010.

Five most populous incorporated places Incorporated place 2000 population 2010 population Percent change Billings city 89,847 104,170 15.9% Missoula city 57,053 66,788 17.1% Great Falls city 56,690 75,092 3.2% Bozeman city 27,509 37,280 35.5% Butte-Silver Bow 34,606 34,200 -1.2%

Five most populous counties County 2000 population 2010 population Percent change Yellowstone 129,352 147,972 14.4% Missoula 95,802 109,299 14.1% Flathead 74,471 90,928 22.1% Gallatin 67,831 89,513 32.0% Cascade 80,357 81,327 1.2%

The areas of the state that displayed the largest population growth were Flathead Valley, suburban Bozeman, and suburban Billings. Of the 20 fastest-growing House districts, 14 were within these three areas.

Native American count

Joe Lamson -- who was a member of the Montana Redistricting Commission -- said he believed the census undercounted Native Americans. On June 28, 2011, he presented information to the State Tribal Relations Committee demonstrating that roughly 9,000 Native Americans were not counted by the Census. Based on surveys, the state could then petition the Census Bureau to alter the figures.

Congressional redistricting

Montana had only one U.S. House seat, and therefore did not require any map changes. The entire state was one district.

Legislative redistricting

The legislative work plan was adopted on September 24, 2009. The new districts did not go into effect until the 2014 elections.

In a meeting on May 16, 2011, the commission received public comments and discussed the training sessions and Congressional plan.

Figure 3: This image shows the House districts created in 2000 along with the updated 2010 population counts.

A July 12, 2011 meeting was held to adopt the districting process and receive additional public comment.

July 2011: Statewide approach

The Montana District and Apportionment Commission met on July 12, 2011 and voted to approach the process by taking the state as a whole -- rather than a regional approach which had been employed in years past. The commission hoped to have a map drawn and ready for public viewing by the end of 2011.

February 2012: Drafts released

The Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission met on February 17, 2012 to take a first look at the proposed legislative maps. The five-member commission was composed of two Democratic and two Republican appointees, as well as one member chosen by the State Supreme Court. The commission next took the drafts to gather public input across the state. The maps would not go into effect until the 2014 elections. The 2012 races were run using the maps drawn after the 2000 Census. This was the standard timeline used in Montana. In the 2000 redistricting cycle, the commission was controlled by Democrats 3-2. Republicans said that map was drawn with a partisan slant in favor of Democrats.

August 2012: Tentative map approved

On August 17, 2012, the commission unanimously approved a tentative map of all 100 House districts, which is available here.

Commissioners met on October 25 to correct technical errors in the proposed plan and a public hearing took place November 15 in Helena to introduce amendments and discuss how districts would be paired. They met again in late November to consider further changes and decide on the 50 state senate districts, which were composed by paring two House districts.

A final vote on the new districts was scheduled for December 19. The commission then submitted their final plan to the Legislature on January 17, 2013. On February 4, the House advanced a proposal on a party-line vote of 61-39 that asked the Commission to correct parts of the map that Republicans opposed. Democrats said the proposal was a partisan request and should be ignored.

February 2013: Final legislative plan approved

On February 12, 2013, the Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission finalized maps for the 100 House Districts and 50 Senate Districts, rejecting recommendations from Republican legislative leaders, and instead adopting a small bipartisan request. The panel approved the plan with a split vote with both Republicans on the commission voting against the final plan, arguing that too many decisions favored Democrats. Chairman James Regnier said, "I don't think either side got what they wanted and I don't think either side was disadvantaged more than the other."

The final legislative maps can be viewed here.

March 2013: Lawsuit

In March 2013, a group of registered voters in Fergus and Wheatland counties filed suit over the redistricting plan. The plan assigned Brad Hamlett (D) to the new Senate District 15 for the final two years of his term, even though he did not live in the district. It also allowed Llew Jones (R) to run for re-election in District 9, though in the initial plan he was forced out by Rick Ripley (R) being assigned to his district. This situation was similar to one a decade ago, where constituents were assigned a Democratic senator living outside of their district for the final two years of his term. James Regnier, chair of the Districting and Apportionment Commission, said that the practice of assigning holdover senators to new districts creates a situation where some voters do not elect a new senator for six years.

History

Prior to its admission to the Union, Montana's Territorial Legislative Assembly, from 1864 to 1889, was reapportioned every decade by county population. By the end of that time, however, the growth of mining interests and railroads led the cities of Butte and Helena to dominate the political scene. When the Montana Constitution was drafted in 1889, a deal was struck which made taxation favorable to the mining interests. In exchange, rural interests received disproportionate representation in the new legislature.

The constitution originally designated that each county, regardless of population, would have one senator and that house representative would be tied to population by means of two apportionments per decade. In 1895 the five-year reapportionment was dropped by the legislature, instead giving one representative to each county, with the rest doled out to more populous counties. This resulted in a wider gap between population and representation.

Figure 1: This map shows the Montana Congressional Districts after the 2000 census.

Significant growth led the number of counties to go from the original 16 in 1889 to 54 by 1921. By this time there were 54 senators and 108 representatives, with population so far removed from the equation that senators representing 21% of the population held a voting majority. By 1960, Montana was among the most malapportioned states in the nation. Urban interests lacked proportional representation in the legislature.

In 1965 a federal district court stepped in, pointing to what they saw as discrimination, and instructed the legislature to correct this practice. Standing committees on reapportionment were created, and many reapportionment plans were discussed, but none were approved. Due to their failure, the court reapportioned the state legislature as well as the state's congressional districts.

This action led to a re-evaluation of the state constitution and, eventually, a constitutional convention. In 1972 urban voters, by a slight margin, approved a new constitution. Among the changes was the creation of a five-member citizen commission on reapportionment. The majority and minority leaders of each chamber would choose one member each, with those four selecting the fifth to be the chairman. In 1973 and 1980, the four selected failed to agree on a fifth and the Montana Supreme Court had to designate the final member.

2000

During the 2000 redistricting process, the commission created 52 state house districts with a population deviance of more than 4%. The 1990 redistricting process created 29 House districts with a deviation above 4%.

The 1990 commission had a majority in Republicans' favor while the Democrats were in the majority in 2000. Each time the party in control won more seats in the first election with the new districts.

• 1990: Republicans picked up 25 seats in the Senate and House.
• 2000: Democrats picked up 9 seats in the Senate and House.

Of the 50 Senate seats redistricted in 2000, 20 had a population deviation of more than 4% -- 12 with fewer than 4 and eight with more than 4. Democrats won nine of the 12 smaller districts while Republicans won six of the eight larger ones. The same trend was evident in the House, where Democrats won 22 of the 26 smaller districts and Republicans won 17 of the 26 larger ones.

Deviation from Ideal Districts

2000 population deviation
Office		Percentage
Congressional districts		N/A
State house districts		9.85%
State senate districts		9.82%
Under federal law, districts could vary from an Ideal District by up to 10%, though the lowest number achievable was preferred. Ideal Districts were computed through simple division of the number of seats for any office into the population at the time of the Census.

Lawsuits related to the 2000 Census

There were 2 lawsuits related to the Montana 2000 census redistricting process.

• Brown v. Districting and Apportionment Commission, No. ADV-2003-72 (1st Dist., Lewis and Clark County, July 2, 2003) : The 2003 legislature recommended the Districting and Apportionment Commission revise the plan it had decided on. The legislature also passed a new law stating that districts had to be “within a plus or minus 1% relative deviation from the ideal population of a district." The Commission ignored the recommendation, sending the plan to the secretary of state for approval. The secretary of state, finding the plan did not fit the new rule, refused to file it. Instead, he sought judgment from the courts. The district court ruled the new law was in conflict with the Constitution and thus void, the Secretary of State's refusal to file violated the Constitution, and he also had no standing to seek a judgment on the constitutionality of the plan.

• Wheat v. Brown, No. BDV-2003-601 (1st Dist., Lewis and Clark County, Jan. 2004), aff’d No. 04-015 (Mont. Feb. 18, 2004) : The 2003 legislature passed legislation assigning certain senators with two years left in their terms (known as holdover senators) to specific districts in which they wouldn't have to run for re-election in 2004 and repealed a plan for such senators adopted by the commission. Three of the senators sued to block the plan, and the district court ruled that holdover senators were part of redistricting and as such were the responsibility of the commission and not the legislature. The new legislation was deemed unconstitutional and affirmed by the state Supreme Court.

See also

• State Legislative and Congressional Redistricting after the 2010 Census
• State-by-state redistricting procedures

External links

• Montanan Districting and Apportionment Commission 2009-2010
• Official Citizens Guide to Redistricting