When it comes to redrawing Minnesota's legislative and congressional maps — a process known as redistricting — perhaps no news is good news. That's certainly the way we see things in Austin and Mower County as a whole.
Granted, Senate District 27 has grown a bit, and residents of Adams, Lyle, Rose Creek and Elkton find themselves on the other side of the boundary between House Districts 27A and 27B.
But for Austin, the status quo was largely maintained, and we have no problem with that. When we want to contact our legislators, there will be two names on our list, and regardless of who they are and where their party allegiances lie, they'll have little choice but to pay careful attention to what Austin residents are telling them.
Some of our neighbors to the north, on the other hand, have reason to be quite concerned about the way the new maps were drawn.
Overall, the five-judge redistricting panel did an admirable job, but we can't help but think Dodge County was treated unfairly. The very idea that a largely rural county should encompass four Senate districts and five House districts is baffling. Nine legislators representing one county? That might work in Minneapolis, St. Paul or the suburbs, but it makes no sense down here.
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But what's done is done. Rep. Jeanne Poppe, Rep. Rich Murray and Sen. Dan Sparks will find themselves in southern Dodge County this summer and fall, introducing themselves to a new group of people that they'll hope to represent next year.
