A flurry of lawsuits in state court Monday announced the move to overtime in New Mexico's redistricting battle.

State Democratic Rep. Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, and several voters sued in First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe over plans drawn up in the recent special session. Meanwhile, three Republican lawmakers, including state House Minority Whip Donald Bratton, filed a separate lawsuit in the 5th Judicial District Court in Lea County.

The sprint to the courts by both Democrats and Republicans wasn't a surprise given the just-completed 19-day special legislative session that had partisan tempers flaring over the Legislature's constitutional duty to redraw congressional and legislative districts every 10 years.

The coming court fight, however, does come at a time of financial hardship for New Mexico. In recent months, the administration of Republican Gov. Susana Martinez has laid off dozens of state workers. Meanwhile, New Mexico has asked state workers to pay more into their retirement plans so the state could reduce what it contributed by the same amount.

Months of litigation over redistricting plans will surely add to New Mexico's financial strain. The last time New Mexico tackled redistricting 10 years ago, the state paid $3.5 million in costs related to legal challenges to several plans, including those that redrew state House and congressional districts.

During the just-ended special session, the Legislature passed redistricting plans that would redraw district boundaries for the state House, the state Senate, the Public Regulation Commission and the Public Education Commission. A congressional plan failed to pass, a fact Martinez used Monday to highlight the Legislature's performance.

The Governor's Office said in a statement issued Monday that Martinez was "very disappointed that Democratic leaders spent over $1.5 million and 19 days in session" only to produce "partisan redistricting maps that reflect no attempt to compromise and which the Governor will veto in order to protect the voice of all New Mexicans. In fact, the Legislature even failed in its constitutional duty to pass a congressional redistricting plan."

Martinez also took legislative leaders to task for not tackling two of her priorities — ending New Mexico's practice of giving illegal immigrants driver's licenses and a ban on social promotion in the third grade. In addition, lawmakers also failed to pass legislation that would shore up the state's unemployment fund and a bill giving local authorities the power to ban fireworks.

Two of the suits filed in Santa Fe on Monday asked the courts to stop New Mexico from using current state House and Senate districts for future elections. While the Legislature passed plans redrawing House and Senate districts, the governor is expected to veto them.

The third suit filed in Santa Fe asked the court to draft new boundaries for New Mexico's three congressional districts after the Legislature failed to pass such a plan.

The lawsuit filed in Lea County, meanwhile, challenged the state legislative and congressional plans as well as plans drawn up for the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission.

There are murmurings that more legal challenges could be on the way.

While it is unclear whether the competing lawsuits will be consolidated or heard separately, 10 years ago, the New Mexico Supreme Court appointed a state District Court judge to hear all the various redistricting cases.

The turn to the courts following legislative redistricting efforts is nothing new in New Mexico. In addition to the courts adjudicating the state's redistricting battle 10 years ago, the courts had the last say in the 1970s and '80s, according to an analysis by the New Mexico Legislative Council Service.

The only time in recent decades that New Mexico escaped litigation was in 1991, the legislative agency noted. That "marked the first time in more than 30 years that New Mexico conducted its decennial redistricting without any involvement in litigation," the agency wrote.

The U.S. Department of Justice, however, did pre-clear New Mexico's 1991 redistricting plans, the analysis said.

Contact Trip Jennings at 986-3050 or tjennings@sfnewmexican.com.