When it comes to redistricting, politics is the only factor that really matters.

If residents of Lawrence and Douglas County are feeling like they’ve been kicked around lately, it probably is because they have become a political football in the state’s congressional redistricting debate.

Every 10 years, state lawmakers are required to redraw districts for representation in the state Legislature and the U.S. Congress based on population figures from the latest census. It has been said that this redistricting process is the most political activity in which lawmakers engage.

Their position on the 50-yard line of this year’s redistricting battle has given many local residents a clearer picture of just how political and in many cases, punitive this process can become.

There is much discussion during redistricting about “communities of interest” and drawing districts that keep certain common interests intact. For instance, there is considerable effort to keep the state’s two federal military bases, Fort Riley and Fort Leavenworth, in a single congressional district because of their shared interests. There also is much discussion about the physical size of districts and the requirement to create districts with populations that are as close to equal as possible.

But the overriding principle that guides redistricting is the principle that “to the victor go the spoils.” Because the Kansas Legislature has a large Republican majority, Republican legislators play the part of the victor. They, as Democrats would if the roles are reversed, don’t hesitate to increase their political advantage when redrawing districts.

So what does that mean for Douglas County? Douglas County was one of only two counties in the state (the other was Wyandotte) that voted in favor of Al Gore in the last presidential election. Although Douglas County historically has been one of the most Republican counties in the state, the balance has shifted to the Democratic side in recent years.

That makes Douglas County unpopular with the Republicans who are in control of redistricting. And because Douglas County is right on the boundary between the 2nd and 3rd Congressional Districts, that makes us an easy football to kick around. Johnson County Republicans don’t want Lawrence in the 3rd District because they don’t want to split Johnson County to equalize population among the congressional districts. They also don’t want Douglas County Democrats because they’d rather have a Republican representative in Congress.

Republicans in the 2nd District aren’t really wild about Douglas County either, because they don’t want more Democrats in their district. The desire to minimize the county’s Democratic clout in either district likely has contributed to the willingness of some legislators to consider splitting Lawrence between the two districts even though the districts easily could be equalized without that move.

This whole process is insulting to Douglas County residents, both Democrats and Republicans. Democrats are being punished, and Republicans are suffering from guilt by association. All pleas to keep Lawrence in the 3rd District because of the many ties the city and Kansas University have to the Kansas City area are ignored.

So much for communities of interest and other factors. The redistricting process is all about politics.