These current boundaries for Pulaski County Quorum Court districts will change, but what the new map will look like is still undecided.

The Pulaski County Election Commission has put out two more options to consider as it works toward picking a map to set the 15 Quorum Court district boundaries for the coming decade. Public comment on these new options is open until 11:59 p.m. Friday, Dec. 10.

The commission initially considered four maps, all based on current district lines. Commissioners favored option 4, which got the most positive comments from the public. The option is similar to the existing map, but makes boundaries cleaner and districts more compact, according to analysis from the Pulaski County Election Department. Taking into account public input, Metroplan tweaked the map to combine the Wellington and St. Charles neighborhoods in Little Rock into one district and make some other minor adjustments.

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But former Election Commission Chair Evelyn Gomez submitted her own map for consideration during that initial public comment period, and two of the three commissioners voted to add Gomez’s map to the pile for consideration. The goal of her proposal, Gomez said in her email, was to create an additional district in which minority voters make up the majority.

Gomez left the Pulaski County Election Commission at the beginning of 2021 and is now second vice-chair of the Pulaski County Republican Party. Both fellow Republican commissioners, Kristi Stahr and David Scott, voted to add her map into the mix. Susan Inman, the Democrat on the three-person commission, said it was too late in the process and questioned why Gomez was being allowed to knock everything off schedule. Inman was outvoted, but the commissioners agreed to Inman’s suggestion that out of fairness they should also consider a map submitted by members of the Quorum Court.

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While the map proposal from the Pulaski County Quorum Court is the most similar to the existing map, Gomez’s proposal differs substantially. In addition to creating seven majority minority districts and eight majority white districts (compared to the current six majority minority districts and nine majority white districts), Gomez’s proposal would also pit six of the 15 current justices of the peace against each other in their next election. Doug Reed and Tyler Denton would be drawn into the same district. So would Kathy Lewison and Lillie McMullen, and Julie Blackwood and Kristina Gulley. No sitting JPs live in three of the districts created in Gomez’s proposal, so those districts would be wide open to new candidates.

You can view the maps being considered on the Pulaski County Election Commission’s website. Public comment on the maps is open now. Submit your thoughts to redistricting@votepulaski.net.

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