A Republican proposal for new Indiana House of Representative districts divides northeast Indiana into three districts — 51, 52 and 82 — instead of the current five. Noble and DeKalb counties would have only one representative — instead of two and three, respectively, in the present plan.
A Republican proposal for new Indiana House of Representative districts divides northeast Indiana into three districts — 51, 52 and 82 — instead of the current five. Noble and DeKalb counties would have only one representative — instead of two and three, respectively, in the present plan.
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Matt Getts and Mike Marturello, Herald Republican

ANGOLA — Rep. Dick Dodge, R-Pleasant Lake, is going to have to make some new friends.

That’s because all of DeKalb County has been removed from House Disrict 51 as part of reapportionment that has been offered to the Indiana Legislature. Redistricting is done every 10 years based on U.S. Census data, with roughly 720,000 residents in the congressional districts, 64,000 in Indiana House districts and 129,000 in Indiana Senate districts.

Instead of representing all of Steuben County and most of DeKalb County, Dodge’s district will include most of Steuben and most of LaGrange counties.

“I’m still trying to adjust. It’s a change. It’s a big change. I think it will be a good fit. We are both lake counties. Prairie Heights is all in the district. Pigeon River game reserve is all in the district,” Dodge said Monday afternoon. “I think the LaGrange territory is good. I feel bad about losing a big share of DeKalb. They have given us a lot of support.”

It will be for the first time in decades that part of Steuben County will go to another House district. Otsego and Richland townships — which make up the only Steuben County townships served by Hamilton Community Schools — will become part of District 52, currently served by Rep. David Yarde, R-Garrett.

“It’s going to be different. The biggest disappointment is losing the Hamilton area,” said Dodge, who lives in Steuben Township, which borders Otsego.

Most of DeKalb County will end up with Yarde as its new representative if the redistricting proposal released by the House Republican Party gets final approval this week.

With both the House and Senate controlled by Republicans, the GOP had the major say in how the new districts would look.

Yarde said when he talked to constituents, they wanted to see better boundaries by county.

“They wanted compactness,” Yarde said. “They didn’t want a county with two or three representatives.”

At least in that respect, it was a mission accomplished, according to the House proposal released Monday.

DeKalb County currently has three representatives: Dodge, Yarde and Phyllis Pond, R-Fort Wayne.

Under the proposal, the new House District 52 would encompass all of DeKalb County and include Otsego and Richland townships in Steuben County and a portion of Perry Township in Allen County.

Yarde would no longer represent a majority of Noble and LaGrange counties. In a similar situation to DeKalb’s, Noble County would become part of the new House District 82, with all of the county falling into its boundaries. Noble County is currently served by three state representatives.

Pond’s district would include pretty much the northern two-thirds of Allen County.

Yarde said having one representative for the entire county would lead to a louder, more unified voice for DeKalb in the General Assembly.

“It’s going to be easier to move legislation from a county standpoint,” Yarde said.

In its proposed redistricting plan, Senate Republicans took Steuben County away from state Sen. Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn, in Senate District 14, and added a large chunk of Allen County. The western one-fourth of DeKalb County would be served by the newly drawn Senate District 13, that would also encompass all of Steuben, Noble and LaGrange counties.

State Sen. Sue Glick, R-LaGrange, currently holds the District 13 seat. She was pleased with how reapportionment kept county, township, city, town and precincts as intact as possible.

“I’m on the elections committee in the Senate and that was one of the issues,” Glick said. “They tried really hard to keep the same issues, the same people who have the same culture, together.”

The redistricting proposals weren’t so well received by state Democrats.

“Gov. Mitch Daniels and Hoosiers across our state said they wanted compact districts that respect communities of interest,” said Indiana Democratic Party chairman Dan Parker in a news release. “Simply put, these maps fail that test. From the Congressional maps to the ones at the Statehouse, Republicans have tossed counties, communities and current lawmakers together in a way that just doesn’t make any sense for voters.

“Despite calls from within their own party for a fair and open redistricting process, Republicans drew these maps secretly and didn’t take into account any of the feedback they heard from Hoosiers.”