Borderland is likely to be represented at the state level by a new senator as redistricting occurs in the next few months.

Redistricting is required by the U.S. Constitution every 10 years following the census. Redistricting is an attempt to draw boundaries for all 134 representative and all 67 senator districts to include about the same number of people.

Redistricting is also required for congressional representatives.

The state Republicans and Democrats have each submitted plans, but the Minnesota Legislature and Gov. Mark Dayton did not approve either. A panel of judges is expected to decide the matter, a plan for which is expected to be submitted in February. (See www.gis.leg.mn/geomoose-redist2010/htdocs/index.html for a geographic description of the plans.)

District 3 Sen. Tom Saxhaug, DFL-Grand Rapids, may not represent Borderland, he said.

“It’s just about as up in the air as anything can be,” said Saxhaug this week. “There isn’t any plan that I can see that has me representing International Falls, which would be a tragedy for me, because I love representing International Falls, but we have to face some realities.”

The plans submitted by both caucuses call for District 6 Sen. Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, to represent Borderland, he said.

District 3A Rep. Tom Anzelc said his district needs to expand to include about 4,300 more people. He noted that Saxhaug’s representation needs to get larger by about 8,600 people.

“It’s difficult,” said Anzelc. “I would sure hate to lose Kooch and Lake of the Woods (counties) after really working hard to know those counties over the last six years. I think it would not be in the public interest for that to start all over again with somebody else, because the issues along the border are so different than the issues in the southern part of the district.”

The state districts will get larger, creating a challenge to represent people fairly and equitably, said Anzelc.

“It’s all about people, and that is all about jobs and when, in the case of along the border, there are some advantages, but also disadvantages and everybody has to work together,” he said.

Anzelc noted that the Republican plan at the federal level proposes to “radically change” Minnesota’s 8th congressional district currently represented by Congressman Chip Cravaack. Should that plan move forward, the 8th district would be represented by Collin Peterson, who now represents Minnesota’s 7th congressional district. That plan proposes to create one congressional district across the top third of the state.

“I am very anxious about it,” said Anzelc.

Anzelc said the lack of a redistricting plan makes it difficult to plan for the future.

“We’re all evaluating what the new districts would look like in terms of our electability.”

Saxhaug said the best description of the status of redistricting is “wait and see. It’s tough, because you want to talk to the people in your district and raise money.”

And while Saxhaug may not officially represent Borderland, he said that because he’s come to know the people and issues of the area he would continue to work toward its best interests.

“If you like an area and like a group of people, your tendency is to represent the area whether technically you represent them or not,” he said.

However, Saxhaug said once the Legislature convenes Jan. 23 and the judicial panel unveils its redistricting plan in February, “then we’ll know and we can really talk about it.”

For more on redistricting, see www.gis.leg.mn/html/ redistricting.html.