High Court takes on suit challenging redistricting – By Dan Boyd (Albuquerque Journal) / Oct 14, 2022
Copyright © 2022 Albuquerque Journal
SANTA FE – The New Mexico Supreme Court plans to hear arguments in January on a Republican-backed lawsuit targeting a new state congressional map.
In a Friday order, the state’s highest court took over control of the case from a state judge in Clovis and directed both sides in the redistricting litigation to file legal briefs by next month.
The legal action comes after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office – along with top-ranking Democratic lawmakers – asked the Supreme Court in July to intervene in the case in order to resolve its underlying legal questions.
The lawsuit was initially filed in January by the New Mexico Republican Party and seven other plaintiffs, who argued the Democratic-backed congressional map was a political gerrymander that intentionally chopped up Republican voting strongholds in southeast New Mexico in order to obtain a partisan advantage.
