What has been a relatively safe seat the past 10 years for Congressman David Schweikert, a Republican of Fountain Hills, is now considered one of the most competitive Congressional Districts in the state based on the final version of new redistricting maps approved by the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC).

The five commissioners voted unanimously to approve the new congressional map for the state, but some contentious last-minute wrangling over the state legislative map ended with a split 3-2 vote to adopt. As of this writing it is unclear whether there will be any court challenge to the new maps.

The map for what is now Congressional District 1 that includes Fountain Hills (previously this was CD6) encompasses the northeast corner of Maricopa County. It extends west to roughly I-17 and generally south of the Loop 101. It does reach the Yavapai County line farther east of I-17, excluding the Anthem and New River areas. The district does include Cave Creek.

The congressional district map includes both the Fort McDowell Yavapai and Salt River Pima Maricopa tribal nations.

CD 1 has a population of 771,626, of which 591,373 are of voting age.

The AIRC uses a compilation of nine focus elections to gauge party competitiveness rather than party registration. Those nine races include 2020 president and senate, 2018 senate, secretary of state, attorney general, state treasurer, superintendent of public education, state mine inspector and 2016 presidential. In the area defined by the new District 1, Democrats won in five of those races, and Republicans won four.

Of the nine congressional districts statewide, four are considered Republican and three favor Democrats. The remaining two are rated as competitive.

Fountain Hills is now included in Legislative District 3. This district is generally similar to the congressional map covering the northeast portion of Maricopa County. However, the legislative map does not include the Salt River Pima Maricopa Tribal Nation, and areas of north Scottsdale and northeast Phoenix are included in other districts. The District 3 map does extend all the way to I-17, where it includes Anthem and New River.

LD3 has a total population of 236,955, with 184,570 that are of voting age. It is a strong Republican district with the GOP winning all nine of the AIRC focus races.

There are 30 legislative districts in the state with 13 leaning Republican and 12 considered Democrat. The remaining five are rated as competitive based on the metric used by the commission.

Looking ahead to the 2022 elections Schweikert appears likely to seek another term in the newly defined District 1.

In the legislature, Fountain Hills resident John Kavanagh is a Representative for the current district. It is unclear how the new map might affect his plans for seeking another term.

Democrats have expressed some displeasure with the maps. They have been particularly critical of AIRC Chairperson Erika Neuberg who, based on the rules of the commission makeup, is non-partisan. However, she consistently voted with the two Republican members of the commission on decisions related to the redistricting.

Shereen Lerner, a Democrat commission member, was quoted expressing her displeasure with the process and Nueberg’s voting with the GOP commission members.

“This could have been a great map. This could have been a map that truly showed compromise. That truly showed we were here for the good of the state,” Lerner said. “I do not feel we ended up with that map. And it distresses me because I came into this, as all my colleagues did, I think, wanting to do the best for the state.”

The AIRC began working on the new district maps soon after the results of the 2020 Census were known to prepare the constitutional ordered districts for the next decade. Over seven months they held 68 statewide sessions, hearing 1,700 comments in person and about 17,000 comments submitted through its website portal.