Drawing the Line: Nevada’s Own Redistricting Battles
As Texas wrestles with its redistricting drama, Nevada’s history of redrawing political boundaries also involved debates over partisan impact. In 2021, with Democrats controlling the Nevada Legislature and the redistricting process, they drafted district maps that critics argued favored their party. Currently, despite voter registration being nearly evenly split between Democrats and Republicans statewide, three of Nevada’s four congressional districts lean Democratic in registration. Calls for an independent redistricting commission to ensure greater transparency and fairness were ignored. A 2020 ballot initiative to create such a commission failed to collect sufficient signatures due to pandemic-related disruptions, and a proposed constitutional amendment to establish one did not advance in the Democratic-majority Legislature during the 2021 special session.
A bit of history: Until 1965, Nevada’s “little federalism” system assigned one state Senate seat to each county, disproportionately favoring rural areas over Las Vegas’s growing urban population. A 1965 court ruling mandated population-based districts, but multi-member districts persisted into the 1970s, often protecting urban incumbents. A 1971 lawsuit further advanced equitable representation, setting the stage for Nevada’s ongoing redistricting debates.
In 2011, Nevada’s population surged to 2.7 million, earning a fourth congressional seat. A stalemate between the Democratic-controlled Legislature and Republican Governor Brian Sandoval resulted in court-drawn maps, introducing single-member districts for 42 Assembly seats, 21 Senate seats, and four congressional districts.
In 2021, Nevada’s Democratic-controlled Legislature and governor’s office enacted new congressional and state legislative maps during a special session. Critics, including the Princeton Gerrymandering Project, which gave the congressional maps an F, alleged partisan gerrymandering to secure a 3-1 Democratic advantage in Nevada’s four congressional seats (NV-1, NV-3, NV-4), leaving Republicans with only rural NV-2. Despite Republicans garnering 49% of the 2022 congressional vote compared to Democrats’ 37%, Democrats won 75% of seats, reflecting a +0.8 seat advantage per Princeton’s analysis. The redrawing of swing Congressional District 3 in Clark County to include more Democratic-leaning urban areas bolstered Democratic victories in 2024. A 2022 lawsuit, later dismissed, criticized the maps for disregarding county boundaries.
Nevada’s diverse political landscape, with urban Clark County housing over 70% of the state’s 3.2 million residents, rural regions, and a nonpartisan voter base exceeding both Democrats and Republicans, underscores the importance of equitable redistricting. Similar to Texas, where lawsuits have raised concerns about partisan influence in map-drawing, Nevada’s history of debated redistricting processes has prompted discussions about reform. With projections indicating Nevada may gain another congressional seat by 2030, a proposed independent commission could enhance transparency and fairness in creating districts that reflect the state’s evolving electorate.
