News Release State Senator Roger J. Reinert District 07 325 Capitol 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. St. Paul, MN 55155-1606 Telephone (651) 296-4188 sen.roger.reinert@senate.mn Date: February 21, 2012

Senator Reinert’s Comment on 2012 Redistricting Maps

Earlier today, the Minnesota Judicial Special Redistricting Panel released new district boundaries. Every ten years, district lines are redrawn based on the most recent census information. Changes in population size in throughout areas of the state help determine ultimately how the boundaries move.

Although more detailed, street-level maps are not yet available, preliminary maps show Minnesota’s seventh legislative district remains similar to existing boundaries – contained exclusively within Duluth city limits. The district, however, has grown in population from 72,235 to 78,907 people.

“The city of Duluth is a strong regional, population center in northeast Minnesota, and with the whole of District 7 remaining entirely within the city, it helps our community have a strong voice in the Legislature,” said Senator Roger Reinert.

The panel also released new Congressional District boundaries which show the eighth district remaining largely the same, spanning north and south rather than east to west as some earlier redistricting proposals showed. “Duluth and the Iron Range still remain the heart of the eighth congressional district,” said Senator Reinert. “The new maps do exactly their intended purpose, to capture communities of people and combine their interests for fair representation.”

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