Franklin County joins Wright and Hamilton under new district maps

Published by editor on Wed, 11/10/2021 - 1:13pm

Franklin County will be part of House District 55 along with Hamilton Co, part of Wright County, and Story City.

Franklin County will share Senate District 28 with Wright, Humboldt, Hamilton, and Hancock Counties, along with Story City

Franklin County will be on the far edge of Iowa's 4th Congressional District under the new map.

By:

Travis Fischer

Mid-America Publishing

After weeks of debate and discussion, Iowa's representative redistricting has been finalized for another decade.

On Thursday, November 4, Governor Kim Reynolds signed the bill that would set new legislative districts going into effect in 2022, approving the second draft of proposed maps produced by the Legislative Services Agency.

These maps decide the borders for both Iowa's congressional districts for the United States House of Representatives along with the districts for Iowa's own senators and representatives.

At the Congressional level, Franklin County won't see much change under the new map. While adjacent counties Cerro Gordo, Floyd, Butler, Grundy, and Hardin will be moved into Iowa's District 2, Franklin County will remain in District 4, currently represented by Republican Randy Feenstra.

The new maps will have drastic changes for state level representation though.

Currently, Franklin County sits in Senate District 27, which it shares with most of Cerro Gordo County and the northern half of Butler County. This district is currently represented by Amanda Ragan (D-Mason City).

Under the new map, Franklin County will instead be part of Senate District 28, which it will share with Wright, Humboldt, Hancock, and Hamilton Counties, along with just enough of Story County to include Story City. Current District 4 Senator Dennis Guth (R-Klemme) would be the de facto incumbent in the new district.

For the Iowa House of Representatives, the current House District 54 is largely identical to its Senate counterpart. It also consists of the entirety of Franklin County, the western half of Cerro Gordo County, and the northern half of Butler County. It is currently represented by Shannon Latham (R-Sheffield).

This convenient overlap, which allows both Senator and Representative to serve largely the same people, will become a thing of the past as Franklin County becomes part of the new House District 55. The new district will consist of the entirety of Franklin County and Hamilton County, along with the southeastern corner of Wright County and, again, just enough of Story County to include Story City.

Under this new district, Representative Latham would remain the de facto incumbent.