Colorado's Independent Commission Explained

In statehouses across the country, the political playing field is being redrawn, as states wade into the murky waters of midcycle redistricting. 

President Donald Trump kicked off this effort, when he urged Republicans in Texas to draw new Congressional maps, years ahead of schedule. Then came Missouri and North Carolina, and earlier this month, California voters agreed to put aside their independently drawn map and give Democrats more seats. 

Colorado — a blue state with its congressional seats split evenly between the parties — is a tempting target as Democrats look to further offset Republican gains.

But not so fast. 

CPR's Bente Birkeland and Caitlyn Kim dive into the guardrails Colorado voters put in place years ago to keep politics out of the state’s redistricting process — and why changes to the process could be slow and costly. They’re joined by NPR’s Larry Kaplow, who has been covering this issue on the national level. 

Read and listen to our redistricting coverage:

• As state after state weighs partisan redistricting, the people who drew Colorado’s map hope it stays out of the fray
• Should Colorado join the gerrymandering war? Attorney General Phil Weiser thinks so
• The man who helped Colorado and California take politics out of redistricting calls the race toward partisan gerrymanders a living ‘nightmare’
• Colorado officially has new state legislative maps
• Purplish’s 2021 redistricting miniseries: The Great Redraw 

Purplish is produced by listener-supported CPR News and the Capitol News Alliance, a collaboration between KUNC News, Colorado Public Radio, Rocky Mountain PBS, and The Colorado Sun, and shared with Rocky Mountain Community Radio and other news organizations across the state. Funding for the Alliance is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Purplish’s producer is Stephanie Wolf. This episode was edited by Megan Verlee , and sound designed and engineered by Shane Rumsey. Theme music is by Brad Turner. Big shout out to Rachel Estabrook, who has led the audio projects team this past year and is leaving CPR at the end of the month. Thanks for your leadership!

Editor's note: This episode has been updated to remove an inaccuracy about the current partisan split in the U.S. House of Representatives.