Kentucky Supreme Court reviews state’s Republican-drawn legislative, congressional maps

By BRUCE SCHREINER
Associated Press

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Democrats have taken their legal fight to the state’s highest court in challenging Republican-drawn boundaries for state House and congressional districts. The hearing before Kentucky’s Supreme Court on Tuesday revolved around a lower court ruling that the new maps didn’t violate the state constitution. Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate concluded that the new boundaries amounted to “partisan gerrymanders.” But he said the constitution doesn’t “explicitly forbid” the consideration of partisan interests in redistricting. During Tuesday’s hearing, state Supreme Court Justice Kelly Thompson said that issue looms as “the crux” of the matter as the high court reviews the redistricting case.