LEXINGTON, Ky. — Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate ruled Thursday that Kentucky’s GOP-drawn House and U.S. Congressional District maps are constitutional. Wingate filed the order in response to a lawsuit brought forward by the Kentucky Democratic Party shortly after the House and Senate GOP rushed through their new, constitutionally required, redistricting maps early this year.
Wingate agreed with the Kentucky Democratic Party’s legal team that the maps were, indeed, gerrymandered for partisan advantage. But he did not find their case arguing that the state constitution prohibited gerrymandering to be compelling enough. He found that House Bill 2, the new House map, and Senate Bill 3, the new U.S. Congressional District map, did not violate the state constitution because existing case law does not support the idea that gerrymandering in and of itself is unconstitutional.
“The Kentucky Constitution assigns the task of apportionment to the General Assembly— a political body. Plaintiffs have made an admirable effort to prosecute their claims and successfully established at trial that HB 2 and SB 3 are partisan gerrymanders. However, as the Court has thoroughly detailed in this Opinion and Order, the Kentucky Constitution does not explicitly prohibit the General Assembly from making partisan considerations during the apportionment process. The Court acknowledges that other states’ constitutions prohibit partisan gerrymandering or assign redistricting to a nonpartisan committee, but this Court’s concern is only with the Kentucky Constitution.”
Wingate’s ruling does not align with many Republicans’ take on the new maps: that they were not instances of partisan gerrymandering. That was the argument forwarded by House Speaker David Osborne, a Prospect Republican, in a statement Thursday.
“As with those who made outrageous and despicable claims, including racism, I would hope all heed today’s ruling and recognize that for the first time in modern history the legislature did what we said we would do — we passed maps that are legal and constitutional. Instead of doing it the way Democrats have, we did it the right way. In fact, it is the first time in four decades that a plan is declared legal and constitutional and the first in more than a century to break the cycle of partisan-driven gerrymandering.”
Many Democrats complained about the new maps in the wake of their losing ground in Frankfort after Tuesday’s election results, with House Minority Leader Joni Jenkins, D-Shively, citing gerrymandering as a primary reason her caucus lost six of its members, shrinking from 25 to 20 in the 100-person chamber.
Gov. Andy Beshear agreed that it played a role on House Democrats’ performance, arguing that House seats Republicans gained were “gerrymandered significantly and intentionally.” He said he would support changing the process to involve a nonpartisan, independent redistricting group like some other states use.
“They very intentionally went in and tried to cut up different areas to benefit them and their party. And let me first say: I think that’s wrong,” Beshear said. “I think that voters should choose their elected officials, and election officials shouldn’t take the map and split out voters so they win no matter what.
“What you’ll hear is, ‘Well, Democrats did it then and Republicans did it now.’ Wrong’s wrong.”
Rep. Jason Nemes, a Louisville Republican, who played a role in crafting the maps, tweeted out a video of DJ Khaled’s popular song “All I Do Is Win” in response.
Republican Party of Kentucky spokesperson Sean Southard called the ruling “a win for the rule of law and the branch of government tasked with policy-making under our constitution.”
Kentucky Democratic Party attorney Michael Abate did not offer comment on the ruling, but has indicated in the past that his team would appeal an adverse ruling.
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