MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A judge will decide whether a lawsuit involving Minnesota's political maps will proceed in federal court.

Democratic lawyers made the request Monday before Chief Federal Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan. The case was paused earlier in the year while the Legislature tried to sort out a redistricting plan to determine political boundaries for the next decade.

Republican attorneys say redistricting matters must move through state court first. Boylan took the matter under advisement.

The process matters because the new maps will determine the competitiveness of congressional and legislative elections and could give one party a bigger advantage going into the 2012 elections.

The GOP-led Legislature approved redistricting plans but Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed them. In all likelihood a court panel will redraw the maps.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.