District Re-Drawing Illustrates Urban/Rural Divide

A Nebraska legislative committee kicked off its effort to redraw the state’s political boundaries, showing early signs of an urban-rural divide as some lawmakers questioned whether rural population declines were as severe as census numbers show. Data presented to the committee confirms that legislative districts in rural, western Nebraska all lost residents. Suburban Omaha and Lincoln posted big gains. One district in the remote Nebraska Panhandle lost 15.5% of its population from 2010 to 2020. A fast-developing Omaha-area district gained 31.1%. Republicans in the ostensibly nonpartisan Legislature are striving to maintain GOP dominance, while Democrats are looking for any edge they can find.