Suburbs, farms and mansions: New 1st District a political battleground

Monroe voters like their members of Congress to be Republican. But for a dozen years, they've gone without.

That streak could end this fall.

As a result of redistricting, Monroe finds itself in a physically reshaped and politically reoriented 1st Congressional District with an open seat up for grabs in the November election.

Those responsible for the once-a-decade redrawing of boundaries converted the 1st District from an urban safe haven for a liberal Democrat to a mix of farmland and suburbia from the Canadian border to Medina, where partisans are equally divided -- and where Republicans can win.