How worried should Democrats be about Iowa's 2021 redistricting?

[progressoid]

Leaders vow to keep Iowa’s redistricting system,” declared the headline above Rod Boshart’s latest article for the Cedar Rapids Gazette and other large newspapers.

But did Governor Kim Reynolds and top Republican lawmakers really make that promise? And could they gerrymander our state in 2021 without altering the current process?

Boshart reported,

“I have no intention whatsoever” of changing Iowa’s redistricting approach, the Republican governor said in a recent interview. “We are a model for other states to follow. It could not be a fairer process, and so I have no inclination at all to change that.” […]

Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, R-Ankeny, said his GOP caucus has “no plans” to make any changes to Iowa’s redistricting process, which has been managed at the state level for decades.

Republicans didn’t talk last summer about overhauling Iowa’s judicial selection process, which had been in place for more than 50 years. That didn’t stop them from exploiting a loophole in the constitution to change the system this year. Reynolds didn’t call for more power to pick judges in her Condition of the State address, but her staff later lobbied intensely to secure enough Republican votes to pass the bill.

Similarly, Iowa GOP leaders didn’t speak publicly last year about limiting Attorney General Tom Miller’s powers. That didn’t stop them from slipping unprecedented language into a budget bill near the end of this year’s legislative session. Reynolds had never publicly called for legislative action against Miller. Yet she praised the Republican effort to kneecap the attorney general and item-vetoed the provision only after getting Miller to voluntarily cede some of his authority to her.

“I have no intention” and “I have no inclination” fall short of a solid commitment from Reynolds to veto any bill that would give the majority party more control over redistricting.

more...https://www.bleedingheartland.com/2019/07/07/how-worried-should-democrats-iowas-2021-redistricting/

[rurallib]

2. I don't know if there is any restriction based on when the census data is available

since that "should" be available in 2021, I don't see Republicans wanting to change things next year. Plus as of now they have pretty solid control of both chambers.
Iowa's very demography is kind of a self made gerrymander by itself. Democrats tend to bunch in the major cities and the other 85 or so counties are Republican. Gerrymandering might not do them any good.