LINCOLN — A Republican redistricting proposal unveiled Wednesday would cleave off northwest Douglas County from a Nebraska congressional district that has been won by presidential and congressional Democrats at various points over the past decade.

State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, the GOP chairwoman of the Legislature’s Redistricting Committee, distributed the proposed district boundaries at a morning committee meeting.

The map would divide Douglas County, all of which currently sits in the state’s 2nd Congressional District. The district became known as Nebraska’s “blue dot” following Democrat Joe Biden’s electoral victory there in the 2020 presidential election.

The committee is slated to meet again Thursday to discuss her map and an alternative proposed by the committee’s vice chairman, Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha, a Democrat.

Wayne’s map would leave Douglas County whole while putting Bellevue back into the 2nd District. The result would be similar to the district’s boundaries following the 2001 redistricting.

The Linehan map, by contrast, would split Douglas County along Interstate 680 and West Dodge Road. Everything north and west of those main thoroughfares would move into the 1st Congressional District, which is dominated by Lincoln. The district is represented by U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry.

The revamped 2nd District would include the rest of Douglas County, all of Sarpy County and all of Saunders County. The district now is represented by U.S. Rep. Don Bacon.

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