SD Legislature Passes Redistricting Plan

     The stalemate on redistricting in South Dakota is over as the Legislature on Wednesday approved new political boundaries that are likely to shake up the Statehouse. 

      Moderate Senate Republicans championed the proposal. The state’s population has shifted towards urban areas in the last decade and the map’s proponents argued that new legislative districts must reflect that change. 

      House lawmakers unsuccessfully pushed a map that would have kept legislative lines close to their current positions. 

     The proposal cleared the House by a handful of votes with a conservative group of Republicans opposing the redistricting proposal. It easily passed the Senate.

      The compromise might have been reached Tuesday, but action was paused when House Majority Leader Kent Peterson suffered a medical incident during a Republican caucus meeting that morning and was taken to the hospital. 

      Peterson was conscious as he was wheeled out on a stretcher, but the incident halted negotiations to find a compromise. Peterson had played a central role as the first 2 days of the session and the search for a consensus plan.