FRANKFORT, Ky. — Both the Kentucky House and Senate passed their respective redistricting maps Thursday, marking the halfway point of the process to redraw new lines for legislative, congressional and Kentucky Supreme Court districts.

Rep. Jerry Miller (R-Eastwood), who chairs the committee in charge of redistricting, said the proposed Kentucky House districts are much more compact than the current map.

“The map of District 49 would no longer look like an ink splatter,” he said. “District 8 would no longer look like a dragon.”

The bill passed 71-19.

One Democrat — Rep. Cherlynn Stevenson of Lexington — voted for the bill, although she voiced concerns about how Lexington and Fayette County were carved up. Two Republicans — Reps. Matt Lockett (R-Nicholasville) and Lynn Bechler (R-Marion) — voted against it.

Bechler is part of four pairs of incumbents who will have to face each other under the proposed House map. Rep. Norma Kirk-McCormick (R-Inez) voted for the map despite the fact she also has to face a fellow Republican lawmaker in the primary this year.

She said it was one of the toughest votes she’s had to make as a lawmaker.

“At the end of the day, let’s come together,” Kirk-McCormick said. “Let’s get this show on the road and move on.”

Several Democrats took issue with how their districts were redrawn, including Rep. Jeffery Donohue (D-Fairdale), who said his southern Louisville District was redrawn with politics in mind.

“Let’s just call it what it is: we’re creating a structural advantage by these lines here,” Donohue said.

Rep. Pamela Stevenson (D-Louisville) said Republicans diminished the voice of minorities.

“You can put a pig in a wedding dress, but it’s still a pig,” she said.

Miller refuted the claim, and said the maps were done fairly.  

“We did not use race and color as a factor in drawing the map, or any district, but we have analyzed the result to ensure that we comply with the Voting Rights Act of 1969,” he said.

The Senate also passed two maps Thursday: the Kentucky Senate map and the congressional map.

Both votes were 28-4 vote.

Sen. Brandon Smith (R-Hardin) voted no, although he says there’s a lot to like about each map.

“I just wish that had been extended to the eastern part of the state, what I consider to be the true gateway that opened up the west,” he said. “The gateway where the families came from that made it to Lexington and to Louisville.”

The proposed congressional map passed by a 28-4 vote as well, and this time, every no vote was a Republican.

Sen. Adrienne Southworth said the 1st Congressional District, which is represented by U.S. Rep. James Comer, shouldn’t be drawn from Paducah to Frankfort.

“What I would like to see is a little bit more policy focus in this body,” she said. “Saying, OK, a congressman wants something doesn’t mean they always get it.”

Each of the maps still has to clear the other chamber, and legislative leaders formalized the decision to come in on Saturday to pass the maps on to the governor.

Lawmakers suspended the typical rules of voting to pass through House Bill 172, a bill pushing the filing deadline for candidates in this year’s election, to Jan. 25. The previous deadline was Friday afternoon, but the new maps won’t be ready by then.

Gov. Andy Beshear signed it shortly after the Senate passed it Thursday.