Commission Passes State Redistricting Plans

The R.I. Reapportionment Commission approved new maps for the Congressional, State House and Senate districts during a Monday night hearing. The redistricting occurs every 10 years, following completion of the U.S. Census.

Votes in favor of the state House and Senate district maps were unanimous; the vote on the U.S. Congressional district was 11-6. 

“I think it’s a good compromise,” said Commission Chairman Stephen Ucci (D-District 42, Cranston, Johnston). “Again, not everybody’s going to be happy with it. This turned out to be a lot more difficult than I thought it would be.”

In the U.S. Congressional redistricting, the divided vote illustrated that some were still unhappy that Democrat U.S. Rep. David Cicilline's district would lose some of the Republican-leaning in northwest towns. And there remained concerns about the location of the line dividing Providence between two Congressional districts. 

In the East Bay, population declines have resulted in the loss of a House seat. “By the time you get to Barrington and Bristol County, you end up - particularly in the House - with not enough population to support everybody. We’ve got [District] 67 coming with most of Warren; [District] 66 is Barrington and the lower part of East Providence," said Kimball Brace, owner of Election Data Services, Inc., the firm hired to assist in the redistricting process. 

Brace said he’s spent five hours on Monday with the East Bay delegation. The talks eventually resulted in an acceptance of the proposal.

On Thursday, there will be an additional hearing to consider minor changes to the redistricting. The public will be allowed to comment.