Speaker at Cape chamber's First Friday Coffee focuses on redistricting

Lloyd Smith describes the 2011 redistricting of congressional and state political boundaries as "the good, the bad and the ugly."

Smith, the executive director of the Missouri Republican Party, spoke about the topic at the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce's First Friday Coffee. He pointed out that the new ideal district population in the congressional boundaries -- diminished to eight after last year's census data -- stands at 748,616.

The Missouri GOP, he said, assisted interested entities in drawing more than 200 map variations.