$$A proposed redistricting plan, which could give Colorado seven Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives and only one Republican, would split El Paso County into two parts and thereby weaken the county’s influence in Congress.

El Paso County, which contains all of Colorado Springs, currently is mainly in the 5th Congressional District. The representative is Jeff Crank, a Republican.

Under the proposed redistricting plan, introduced by out-of-state Democrats, El Paso County would be divided into two, and both parts would be added to two other new districts.

Under the proposed plan, the eastern portion of El Paso County would go into House District 4, which includes 22 counties on the Eastern Plains and is currently represented by Republican Lauren Boebert.

The western portion would go into a new 5th Congressional District that would include a large portion of Douglas County to the north and a section of Arapahoe County north of Douglas County.

The representative elected from a new 5th District might be from El Paso County, but it would not be guaranteed; they could come from Douglas County or Arapahoe County.

Got all that? These details will help.

A political group from outside Colorado supports this proposal to completely redraw Colorado’s eight districts. The group, named Coloradans for a Level Playing Field, proposes redrawing the districts so that seven Democrats will likely be elected and only one Republican.

Their plan is based on an old redistricting trick. You squeeze as many Republican voters as possible into one district — in this case, the 4th Congressional District — and that way the other seven districts become more Democratic.

This is all part of a national movement by both political parties to get more of their members elected to the House by redrawing district boundaries in states across the country.

Democrats claim — and they are right about this — that this struggle was started by President Donald Trump and Republicans in Texas.

Republicans are drawing new House district lines in any state they can to give their party a larger House majority.

Naturally, Democrats are responding to this Republican initiative by working to pick up as many extra seats in the House as they can by doing what is called a “mid-decade redistricting.” And that is how this proposal to create a House delegation of seven Democrats and one Republican came to Colorado.

Coloradans for a Level Playing Field has a proposal for the November election ballot by which voters will be able to adopt the new seven Democrats-one-Republican plan.

If approved by voters in November, the plan would take effect for the 2028 and 2030 House elections.

El Paso County Democrats will have a tough decision to make about whether or not to vote for the redistricting plan.

Many of them have been taught in high school and college to be against gerrymandering, and the Coloradans for a Level Playing Field plan is a definite gerrymander.

It would favor Democrats, but it would severely disenfranchise Republican voters and unaffiliated voters who like to take their choice between Democrats and Republicans.

On the other hand, it is Republicans who started this redistricting war in other states and who are using gerrymandering unapologetically to further their interests. The Coloradans for a Level Playing Field plan is a good defense against Trump and the gerrymandering Republicans in other states.

Then there is the problem for Democrats that the Coloradans for a Level Playing Field plan will split El Paso County in two and could take away from El Paso County something it has had for many years: being able to always elect one of its own citizens to Congress.

This situation bears careful watching. If Coloradans for a Level Playing Field gets its plan on the ballot in November and is then passed by the electorate, the situation with U.S. representatives in Colorado is going to be very different from what it is today.

News columnist Bob Loevy writes about Colorado and national politics. He served on the 2010 Colorado State Legislative Reapportionment Commission.