What’s going on with community districting?
No matter if we’re Asian, Black, or white, all of us deserve to have the resources we need for our communities to thrive, to access affordable healthcare and housing, and plant roots in our neighborhoods so our families can grow. Since the 2020 Census enumeration period ended, we’re proud to have been part of the #OurMapsMinnesota campaign to listen and document the voices of our communities. We hosted community conversations, asked community leaders to describe their community, how it’s changed over the past 10 years, and what interests are important. And now Minnesota has unveiled our new Congressional Map, with nearly drawn districts.
Organized by Common Cause MN and Minnesota Council of Foundations (MCF), the Our Maps Minnesota campaign includes a coalition of 12+ organizations, and over 400 community members across 10 racial and ethnic groups, to create 40+ communities of interest maps. These maps gathered the stories, experiences, and histories of our communities to paint the broader picture of what makes Minnesota. Through this multiracial collaboration, Our Maps Minnesota developed the Corrie Plaintiffs map of the state congressional districts and was submitted to the courts.
Our Maps Minnesota includes: African Career, Education, Resource, Inc (ACER); Anika Foundation, Asian American Organizing Project (AAOP); CAPI-USA; Communities Organizing Latinx Power and Action (COPAL); Deaf Equity; Hispanic Advocacy and Community Empowerment through Research (HACER); Islamic Civic Society of America; Native American Community Development Institute (NCADI); Pillsbury United Communities (PUC); The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR); and Voices for Racial Justice (VRJ).
Here are some highlights to the new maps:
- Asian Americans in St. Paul pushed for District 67A to maintain a state senate seat.
- Asian Americans also pushed to keep power for a third House Seat in District 66B.
- North Minneapolis’s district expanded to include the downtown area into District 59B, allowing them to receive more resources. They also got a bit of Northeast Minneapolis. This means our Black and Asian communities residing in North Minneapolis will have more resources!
- All 7 Ojibwe and Anishinaabe communities are now in Congressional District 8, meaning the Indigenous communities will be able to consolidate their power in one district rather than split among different districts. The district is almost 7% American Indian now!
- Much of the deaf and blind community that reside and use the resources around University Avenue from Minneapolis to St. Paul requested that area to be split as little as possible. The new map now splits the University Ave area into 2 house districts rather than multiple as before.
- The Latine community in the west side of St. Paul pushed for inclusion in the city of West St. Paul, as they share many resources, work, community, and relational connections.
- Many cohorts in the African community requested that the Cedar Riverside neighborhood not be combined with the Phillips neighborhood so they can keep the two bases of support for their community. This will allow the African community to maintain two bases of power.
- The new map also takes the part of Minneapolis that’s closest to the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport and places it into the district with the airport.
- Folks residing in east Bloomington felt that their interest aligned more with Richfield than with west Bloomington, so the area was split into 51A and 51B within their state senate.
- The Latine community in Shakopee was able to include a part of Jackson Township, which also has a similar Latine community make-up, for District 54A.
What’s next for community districting?
While these maps will not be in effect until the August Primaries, there’s still local city-level and county-level districting left!
The deadline for Minnesota’s final maps is March 29th, which means new maps will be revealed then. Until then, Ramsey County is looking for community input on how to draw local district lines. They’re hosting a number of local hearings and also have a comment form for folks to share stories about their community or where district lines should be drawn in their neighborhoods. Find the information on hearings here. Provide your input by March 23rd here.
Redistricting impacts our community’s political power and determines if we can hold our elected leaders accountable for the resources we need to thrive. The process must be collaborative and done in partnership with our communities of color and disenfranchised Minnesotans. Minnesota can do better – and it starts with fair districting that produces fair maps!
Check out this redistricting tool to see how your district has changed!