Opinion ID: 891859
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 20

Heading: As part of the review of partisan performance changes, the district court should consider the partisan effects of any consolidation.

Text: Any district that results from a Democrat-Republican consolidation, if that is what the district court elects to do, should result in a district that provides an equal opportunity to either party. In the alternative, some other compensatory action may be taken to mitigate any severe and unjustified partisan performance swing. The performance of created districts as well as those left behind should be justified. Remand Order at p. 20. [14] In the First Court-Adopted Plan, an incumbent pairing was created in central Albuquerque between Representative Al Park (Democrat) and Representative Jimmie Hall (Republican) in District 28. The Supreme Court concluded that this consolidation resulted in a strongly partisan district favoring one party, in effect tilting the balance for that party without any valid justification. Remand Order at p. 16. The Supreme Court also observed that District 28 in the First Court-Adopted Plan was an oddly shaped district. Id. In the Final District Court Plan, this Court again adopts a Democrat-Republican consolidation in Central Albuquerque because such a consolidation is consistent with the overall population trends of the state. Because the Supreme Court has directed that any such pairing must provide an equal opportunity to either party, the Final District Court Plan adopts an incumbent pairing between Representative Al Park (Democrat) and Representative Conrad James (Republican) in District 24. Due to the political makeup of the individual precincts, it would be difficult (if not impossible) to create a district which pairs Representative Park and Representative Hall and results in near equality in the political performance percentages. As a result, the Court identified District 24 as a district which could pair Representative Park with a Republican legislator and still produce near equality in the political performance percentages. While the resulting District 24 is not as compact as the Court would prefer, the district does maintain some approximation of the shape of the prior District 24.