Next June will mark the 25th anniversary of the start of my professional journalism career.

I started my role as managing editor of the Independence (Iowa) Bulletin-Journal, where my office window looked over the Buchanan County Courthouse and the top government story was redrawing the state legislative districts.

A few weeks earlier, the Iowa Senate had rejected the Legislative Service Bureau’s first draft of maps for the 2022 elections. In a resolution explaining its reasons, the Senate requested improved population deviates to more closely reach the “one person, one vote” ideal, among other reasons. Lawmakers enacted the second plan June 22. And I’ve been writing about redistricting ever since.

The Iowa Legislature’s website contains voluminous information on old redistricting cycles

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