Their ambitions are bound to complicate the process. They may be less emotionally attached to districts they are going to have to vacate anyway in a couple of years. In that case, party elders may be able to fashion a set of districts that maximizes the party's overall chance for success, even if that means putting a few individual members out of work. Aside from their impact on the politicians drawing the new maps, term limits could dilute the institutional memory of legislators and their knowledge of state political boundaries. Being decennial affairs, redistricting efforts make for a steep learning curve anyway.
Term limits accentuate that effect and in many cases weaken leadership.
California, for instance, has had seven speakers during the past six years, including three since Democrats took back the Assembly in 1996, following two years of Republican control. In November, the Democrats fended off a Republican ballot initiative that would have moved redistricting to the jurisdiction of the state courts. But whether they will have the skill to draw a gerrymandering masterpiece comparable to their legendary district map of 1981 seems highly doubtful. For the Republicans, the good news is that the bad news isn't as bad as it could be. If there will be less professional redistricting skill in the legislatures than in past years, however, there will be an unprecedented increase in amateur political cartography.