INDIANAPOLIS — The once-a-decade process of drawing new congressional and state legislative district maps for Indiana is now done.
The state Senate approved a redistricting plan that includes changes for Southern Indiana's two congressional districts on Wednesday, concurring along party lines with the Republican-drawn maps that have already cleared the House. They now go to Gov. Mitch Daniels to be signed into law.
Under the new maps, the political makeup of Indiana's 8th District U.S. House seat, now represented by freshman Republican Rep. Larry Bucshon, would become slightly more Democratic.
That's because the district sheds three sparsely populated but strongly Republican counties to its north, while picking up Spencer, Perry and Dubois counties — where Democrats tend to run stronger — to its east.
Meanwhile, another freshman Republican, Rep. Todd Young, will see his 9th District U.S. House seat now stretch from the suburbs north of Louisville, Ky., to those south of Indianapolis.
Southwestern Indiana's state legislative districts won't change much, with a couple of exceptions.
Rep. Ron Bacon, R-Chandler, will see his District 75 drop the western and northern portions of Vanderburgh County. Instead, it will stretch east to include most of Warrick County.
Meanwhile, Rep. Sue Ellspermann, R-Ferdinand, will see her District 74 stretch east, as well. Instead of including cities such as Boonville, it will be based largely in Dubois, Spencer and Perry counties.
Republicans say the new districts for 50 Senate and 100 House seats are more compact and keep more cities and counties together. Democrats say the proposed districts will reduce the number of closely contested races and unfairly dilutes black and Hispanic voting strength.
Leaders of the Indiana Citizens Redistricting Commission say legislators could have allowed public hearings over the summer on the new districts. The maps were released to the public April 11.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.