Colorado is welcoming an eighth congressional district to its voting ranks following years of exploding population. The new Congressional District 8 will carve a section of the the Denver metro’s northern areas, including parts of Adams, Denver, Larimer and Weld counties.
The Colorado Independent Redistricting Commission released preliminary maps two months ago that drew heavy criticism from state Democrats.
They said the preliminary maps, which created a roughly even statewide split between parties, gave too much to Republicans in a state that has leaned bluer in the last decade.
Since then, the commission has created a map that gives more to Democrats.
Under the new maps, five out of eight congressional districts would have majority Democratic registration – three by a large margin, two by a narrower margin.
Democrats have the heaviest lead in Congressional District 1, which comprises most of the City and County of Denver. There, Democratic voters are 45.9% of the district compared to the 10.8% of registered voters.
Congressional districts 2 and 6 also have comfortable Democratic leads on Republican numbers – 52,000 voters and 44,000 voters respectively.
Both Congressional District 7 and the new Congressional District 8 are more purple than the other districts, but they still swing Democratic.
They are 7,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans in District 7, and 11,000 more in District 8.
Only a single congressional district, District 1, has a plurality of party affiliated voters. In every other district, the largest share of voters are unaffiliated.