The Idaho Commission for Reapportionment's citizen members failed to come to an agreement on a new redistricting plan on Tuesday, blowing a 5 p.m. deadline and leaving the decision to the Idaho Supreme Court.
"I am giving up hope," Republican Commissioner Evan Frasure, the commission's co-chair, said during a meeting at the Capitol building in Boise.
Frasure announced his surrender just after 2:30 p.m., saying the commission did not have time to file a report even if an agreement were reached before the 5 p.m. deadline.
Frasure said the commission was within two precincts of coming to a compromise when Republican Commissioner Lou Esposito, who said he could not vote on a plan to change two precincts in eastern Idaho. The plan would prevent a three-county split and ensure that the districts comply with state regulations.
"Accepting resolution of a small area without seeing the effect on the larger map is in my view irresponsible, because you're buying something blind here," Esposito said during Tuesday's meeting.
Indeed, the commission only briefly viewed statewide maps, focusing on eastern Idaho, Ada County and L-71, the bipartisan compromise plan for northern Idaho. Commissioners of each party argued that the other party was attempting to gerrymander—drawing the districts to benefit their own party—near Boise and in eastern Idaho.
Democratic Commissioner Julie Kane made the first motion to vote on a statewide plan based on an earlier Democratic plan as amended by the plan for northern Idaho. The plan would have kept District 25 mostly intact, with Blaine, Lincoln, Camas and Gooding counties joined by part of Twin Falls County.
The motion was struck down 3-3 along party lines, as GOP commissioners said they would prefer to see an integrated map before voting.
"It's a little murky to me what we're voting on," Frasure said.
However, later in the meeting he suggested voting on partial plans to allow "some progress" to be made.
"We have less than two and a half hours and it's over," he said, urging the commissioners to vote on the northern Idaho plan. "We're not even in the ballpark."
As of press time Tuesday afternoon, a vote had not gone forward. Kane and GOP Commissioner Lorna Finman were responsible for drafting the bipartisan compromise, but Kane said she purposely withheld a motion to vote on a partial plan.
"Our position all along has been we don't want to do this piecemeal," she said. "I think it all needs to be in a package."
Dan Popkey of the Idaho Statesman reported Tuesday that Secretary of State Ben Ysursa told him that the Idaho Supreme Court could order the commission to work through the filing deadline for state legislative candidates in March. Popkey reported that Ysursa also said he felt the court wanted no part of drawing district boundaries as it had in 1984, and was more likely to force the commission to agree on a plan.
The commission did not spend much time discussing District 25, and did not decide whether it would remain essentially intact or join with several counties to the north.
Katherine Wutz: kwutz@mtexpress.com
