Second redistricting plan appears to have support from both parties

Republican legislative leaders are telling rank-and-file lawmakers to approve the second redistricting plan which remaps Iowa’s congressional and legislative districts. Lawmakers return to Des Moines June 19th to consider the plan. Senate Republican Leader Stewart Iverson of Dows says admits some legislators won’t like it, though, because they’re thrown into a district with another incumbent. Iverson calls those cases “glitches” that cause hard feelings, but he says they don’t have the option of fixing the plan to help every single person. Senate Democrat Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs says democrats can live with the second plan, too. He says he could probably draw a better plan himself, but says this one is fair.Republican legislators voted down the first redistricting plan because they said the population varied too much between districts. Governor Tom Vilsack hasn’t fully reviewed the new maps. He says he hasn’t made a decisions one way or the other, but he hopes to be able to approve this plan so there’s not a need for a third plan.The redistricting plan throws Congressmen Jim Nussle and Jim Leach into the same district. Leonard Boswell, the lone Iowa democrat in Congress, is thrown into a district that has a 50-thousand vote edge for republicans. [For more on redistricting play… https://www.radioiowa.com/redistricting_June1.htm]