The Democratic-controlled Senate approved a proposal Wednesday for revamping the chamber's 42 districts that drew solid opposition from Republicans who say the plan hurts their chances of picking up seats in future elections.

The measure passed the Senate on a 27-15 vote, with only Democrats backing it.

District changes will reshuffle the geographic distribution of political power, although the total number of seats in the Senate will remain the same. Rural New Mexico faces a loss of political influence while the Albuquerque metropolitan area gains under the Democratic-backed Senate plan.

"There are going to be losers. There are going to be those who will gain and that is the nature of the business that we are in at this point in time with redistricting," said Sen. Linda Lopez, an Albuquerque Democrat who sponsored the proposal.

But Republicans complained the bill was unfair to rural and GOP-leaning areas of the state, and they warned the proposal faced an almost certain veto by Republican Gov. Susana Martinez unless it's revised before reaching her desk. The bill goes to the Democratic-controlled House for consideration.

"It distresses me that the sponsor of this bill says there are winners and losers, and that's the nature of the game," said Sen. John Ryan, R-Albuquerque, whose district is being eliminated under the bill. "I think the Democrats are the winners and the Republicans are the losers in this plan."

Scott Darnell, a spokesman for the governor, said the Senate-passed measure was "anything but fair or bipartisan and does not reflect efforts to compromise."

"The governor believes that both parties should work together to pass a fair redistricting plan that adjusts the current districts based on population changes and will veto any map that is radically partisan in nature," Darnell said in a statement.

Population trends driving the redistricting proposal are a continuation of what's been happening for decades, with portions of the greater Albuquerque metropolitan area growing more rapidly than rural areas.

In the past decade, Albuquerque areas west of the Rio Grande and around the community of Rio Rancho grew enough to merit more seats in the Legislature — in the Senate as well as the House.

In redistricting, lawmakers expand or shrink districts to try to equalize their populations to meet the legal requirements of one person, one vote. The Democratic-backed measure will establish two new districts — both favoring Republicans — on Albuquerque's west side.

To accommodate those changes, other districts are consolidated.

Two districts are merged in southeastern New Mexico, putting Republicans Rod Adair of Roswell and William Burt of Alamogordo in the same district. The plan also pairs Democrat Dede Feldman and Republican John Ryan in one Albuquerque district. Ryan's district will become one of the new Albuquerque west side seats but he doesn't live in that part of the city.

Republicans objected to eliminating the southeastern district, contending that it's population growth didn't justify losing a Senate seat.

"Local representation is going away if this bill passes," said Burt, who was appointed to the Senate this year.

Sen. Carroll Leavell, R-Jal, objected that the greater Albuquerque metropolitan area could end up with 40 percent of the Senate seats under the Democratic-backed measure but account for about 35 percent of New Mexico's population.

"The rural population deserves every bit of the representation that the urban population deserves. I urge you to take this back," Leavell told his Democratic colleagues. "We can do better than this."



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