House and Senate override governor’s vetoes of redistricting plans

After Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear vetoed the state house and congressional redistricting plans drawn by the legislature and passed during the first week of session, the House and Senate voted to override the vetoes of their plans Thursday afternoon.

Beshear vetoed House Bill 2, the House redistricting map, Wednesday afternoon, calling the map “unconstitutional political gerrymandering” and pointing to “excessive splits” in some of the state’s larger counties.

Rep. Jerry Miller, sponsor of House Bill 2, said on the House floor “the governor’s veto is a work of fiction.” Miller reacted to the governor’s comment in his veto message about excessively splitting counties by noting most counties notes in the message are split less in their plan than it was under the current map.

The House voted quickly on the override the veto of House Bill 2 with no discussion with a 69-23 vote. The Senate also voted quickly to override the veto with a 24-10 vote.

Senate Bill 3, the new Congressional map drawn by the Senate, was also vetoed by the governor Wednesday. However, the Senate voted 26-8 to override. The House also passed an override of the veto 64-24.

The maps will not go back to the governor now. However, the Kentucky Democratic Party announced Thursday it’s suing over congressional and state legislative redistricting maps.

Stay tuned to The Bottom Line for more updates.