Where Am I? Lawmakers React To Redrawn Districts

The judicial panel charged with redrawing state legislative boundaries finished its work Wednesday, leaving lawmakers, campaign strategists and voters to look at the new setup and how it impacts them.

The shift is the result of redistricting that happens every 10 years in conjunction with the U.S. Census, a news release from Missouri's Appellate Apportionment Commission states. New maps for both the state Senate and House of Representatives have been submitted to the secretary of state by the commission. Unless they are challenged in court, the maps will take effect in time for the 2012 election cycle.

"We have worked collaboratively to draw maps that comply with the constitution, the Voting Rights Act, and other legal requirements," Commission Chair Lisa White Hardwick stated in a media release.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

The new maps consolidate a larger amount of Creve Coeur into a single statehouse district. What was the 82nd district will now be the 88th, which will stretch to include parts of Olivette, and lose what was part of Chesterfield. State Rep. Jill Schupp (D-Creve Coeur) said the new 88th was "a good one" and supported the idea of making it easier on residents to understand who their representatives were in Jefferson City.

STATE SENATE

The fact that Creve Coeur will remain part of the 24th State Senate district is something of a surprise. A final draft from a panel which had previously attempted to draw the lines had the 24th moving alltogether to Southwest Missouri, leaving State Senator John Lamping (R-Ladue) in a bind. The region he had just been elected to represent would have been three hours away. Instead, the redesigned 24th district now stretches from Interstate 170 west to the Missouri River, losing Clayton, Richmond Heights, Maplewood and Brentwood, while extending into Chesterfield and what was formerly District 7, which also currently includes part of Creve Coeur.

According to the St. Louis Beacon, District 7 State Senator Jane Cunningham (R-Chesterfield) plans to run for re-election in 2012 in the newly drawn 27th District, which will now stretch from part of Chesterfield due south to Dittmer and into Arnold near the Highway 141 corridor.

Lawmakers were scrambling Wednesday to figure out what it all means.

"What I don't know is if I live in the district," Lamping said. He added he was "very disappointed" that the St. Louis region appeared to be losing one state senate voice in the process.

Schupp wrote in an email to Patch that St. Louis was the "economic engine" of the state and needed to be well-represented in the legislature.

"Re-districting is the time when we all wonder whether there was more that could have been done to make sure everyone was counted in the census process. These procedures matter!," she said.