Weld County residents made their voices heard at the first of three public hearings regarding the Colorado Supreme Court-ordered redistricting of the county, and most were not pleased.

On Wednesday, Weld County Commissioners Scott James, Lynette Peppler, Jason Maxey and Perry Buck hosted the first public hearing to discuss three new options for the county’s district lines. The commissioners approved these maps as options June 30 when they were presented by the Weld County Redistricting Advisory Committee.

Most residents who spoke at the public hearing advocated for keeping the districts as they are. Adam DeRito, the vice chairman of the American Veterans First Association, described the state-ordered redistricting as an effort from “powerful outside groups” to flip Weld County in the 2026 election.

“They aim to unseat Republican representatives who defend our livelihoods in the oilfield, our farms and our homes,” DeRito said. “I moved to Weld County in 2017 to escape those policies and to find peace, prosperity and freedom.

Those who support different ideologies are free to live in those counties that reflect their voice, but their ideas are not welcome here in the county that I love.”

Ann la Plante, an attorney in Greeley, said neither the current maps nor the presented maps are ideal because they all divide Greeley across all three districts, diminishing the city’s ability to use its power to elect a representative that is different from the county’s traditional conservative leaning.

During further discussion with the commissioners, la Plante clarified that Greeley’s power, as she was defining it, referred to its voting power as the county seat and city where most of the county’s population is located.

James confronted la Plante on her definition of power, clarifying if she meant to imply that a smaller town like Johnstown was less powerful than Greeley and if that should be taken into consideration in the redistricting process.

Providing a neutral response, la Plante confirmed her stance that Johnstown does have less voter power in the county than Greeley and stuck by her statement that the redistricting process should try to keep Greeley together in a single district.