A handful of senators talk on the floor of the Oregon State Senate on Monday, Sept. 20, 2021, as the Oregon Legislature conducted a special session to consider redistricting. The aim of the session is to pass new legislative and congressional district maps which the state will use for elections.
Andrew Selsky / AP
Republicans in the Oregon House failed to show up for a floor session on Saturday, thwarting majority Democrats’ attempts to pass new political maps before a looming deadline.
The absence of GOP lawmakers denied the House a quorum, meaning there weren’t enough members present to formally begin work. Democratic House Speaker Tina Kotek announced that the House would adjourn until 9 a.m. Monday. If enough Republican’s haven’t shown up by 9:30 a.m., Kotek said, the session will end.
Related: Oregon House Republicans boycott redistricting session, claim maps are unfair
The Legislature has until the end of the day on Monday to participate in the once-a-decade job of redrawing the state's congressional and legislative districts in accordance with new U.S. Census numbers. This year, the redistricting includes a new, sixth U.S. House seat for Oregon, which gained political clout in the latest census.
If they miss the deadline, the job of redrawing congressional maps will fall to a panel of five retired judges appointed by the Oregon Supreme Court, and Democratic Secretary of State Shemia Fagan will be tasked with redrawing the state's legislative districts.
Republicans are upset that Democratic House Speaker Tina Kotek earlier this week rescinded a deal she made with them to split power in the redistricting debate, even though Democrats have large majorities in the Senate and House.
Saturday’s planned session followed a three-day pause due to a COVID-19 case in the Capitol in Salem.
Saturday morning, Kotek unveiled a new proposed congressional map that some hoped would bring House Republicans back to the bargaining table. That proposal put the newest congressional district south of Portland and mostly east of Interstate 5, same as in a previous plan. But it makes several changes to the proposed borders of the other congressional districts, including keeping Portland and Bend in separate districts instead of combining them.
But it wasn’t enough for the House to reach the 40-member quorum required to vote on the matter.