McLeod County’s five district lines will remain the same.
McLeod County Board members reestablished the district boundaries commissioners represent at their regular Board meeting April 5.
The move was made during an open hearing. Minnesota law requires the process be undertaken following state-level redistricting a few months ago. However, population trends and district sizes allowed for the new map to match the prior map, and residents will not have to track any changes to representation at the county level.
As a result, the five districts will not change. They are:
- District 1: Bergen Township, Hale Township, Winsted Township, Lester Prairie, Silver Lake and Winsted
- District 2: Glencoe Township, Helen Township, Glencoe Precinct 1, Precinct 2, Precinct 3 and Precinct 4 and Plato
- District 3: Collins Township, Lynn Township, Penn Township, Round Grove Township, City of Stewart and Hutchinson Precinct 3
- District 4: Hassan Valley Township, Rich Valley Township, Sumter Township, Biscay, Brownton and Hutchinson Precinct 1
- District 5: Acoma Township, Hutchinson Township and Hutchinson Precinct 2
Nathan Schmalz currently represents District 1. Doug Krueger currently represents District 2. Paul Wright currently represents District 3. Daryl Luthens currently represents District 4. Joe Nagel currently represents District 5.
No changes to the election schedule are required due to the redistricting. As a result:
- District 2 and District 5 will be on the 2022 ballot for four-year terms.
- District 1, district 3 and district 4 will be on the 2024 ballot for four-year terms.
OTHER DATA
Keeping the same district borders in McLeod County required several points of data to fall within parameters.
For instance, each district must have roughly 7,354 residents. Or, in other words, an equal share of the county's 36,771 residents, according to the 2020 census. The population can be within 10 percent higher or lower of that equal share.
According to county data:
- District 1 is 5.56% above
- District 2 is 0.9% above
- District 3 is 6.3% below
- District 4 is 3.59% above
- District 5 is 3.74% below
Additionally, the three least populated districts must have more population than the two most populated districts. This is true, with District 2 (2,420), District 3 (6,891) and District 5 (7,079) having 21,390 residents, or 58.2 percent. District 1 has 7,763 residents and District 4 has 7,618 residents.
Districts must also be as contiguous and compact as possible.
