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In a twist, GOP-led Nebraska may give up redistricting power

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LINCOLN, Neb. — In 2008, for the first time in 44 years, red-state Nebraska awarded one of its Electoral College votes to the Democratic presidential candidate, and aghast Republican Party leaders decided they wouldn't let it happen again.

They redrew the state's political lines so the congressional district that favored Barack Obama and included the state's largest black community would take in more Republican voters. Then they pushed the change through the Legislature despite Democrats' complaints.

The doctoring worked: When Obama ran for re-election, the new district went to Republican Mitt Romney by a comfortable margin. In most states, that would be the end of the story — a naked but predictable case of gerrymandering for political advantage.

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But in Nebraska, a state with a different slant on partisanship, the episode didn't sit well. This year, a number of Republicans, including the Legislature's speaker, are joining with the outnumbered Democrats to back an idea that's almost unthinkable in the current hyperpolarized climate: turning over political map drawing to a new independent commission and lessening the role of politics in the process.

Only six states have similar nonpartisan panels for congressional redistricting, and those were often installed by voters, not politicians.

''There was a certain segment of the public that did not have faith in the maps we adopted,'' said state Senator John Murante, a Republican who helped draw the new GOP-friendly map as a legislative staffer before he was elected, and now is backing the new system.

The proposal appears to have a good chance of passing, with support from top Republicans.

Kathay Feng, national redistricting coordinator for the liberal group Common Cause, said it's almost unheard of for legislators to willingly give up their power to set legislative and congressional boundaries.

''I'd call it refreshing,'' Feng said. ''It reflects an increasing clamor from grass-roots groups that say, 'We won't stand it anymore.' ''

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Majority parties usually aren't shy about changing election districts. In 2010, when the GOP had an edge in a majority of legislatures, the resulting maps helped Republicans win a 33-seat US House majority even while receiving 1.4 million fewer votes than Democratic candidates.

Nebraska's Second District was a mixed bag politically in 2008, even though Republicans outnumber Democrats by 18 percent statewide. It included urban Omaha, with its warehouse lofts and African-American community, and some older suburban subdivisions and Offutt Air Force Base.

After Obama carried the district by a single percentage point over Republican John McCain, the Legislature reacted by moving several racially mixed neighborhoods into the overwhelming Republican First District, replacing them with more affluent suburban precincts.