Will Colorado join the redistricting war?

10 snips

Nov 21, 2025

Larry Kaplow, a Senior Editor at NPR's National Desk, provides keen insights on the contentious landscape of redistricting. He discusses President Trump's role in driving midcycle redistricting and how Colorado, a politically split state, becomes a focal point for Democrats. Kaplow highlights the implications of Colorado's independent redistricting commission and the potential political risks for Democrats. He also addresses national trends, the impact of court challenges, and the unpredictable future of electoral outcomes as states navigate these changes.

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INSIGHT

Independent Commission Shapes Colorado Maps

Colorado set up a 12-member independent commission in 2018 to remove partisan influence from redistricting.
The commission must balance Democrats, Republicans, and unaffiliated members and follow tight criteria including maximizing competitive districts.

INSIGHT

Rules Require Competitive Districts

The amendment gives specific map criteria: equal population, contiguity, Voting Rights Act compliance, compactness, and preserving communities.
Unusually, it also requires the commission to create as many competitive districts as possible.

ANECDOTE

Commissioners Describe a Difficult, Transparent Process

Carly Hare and other commissioners described building the map as 'building the plane while we were flying it' during a delayed 2021 process.
Commissioners emphasized transparency, public meetings, and being 'relentlessly nonpartisan.'

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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:

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.