The 100k Districts Series

[minionofmidas]

See also the predecessor from ages ago.

Tolerance up to 5000 from state average. Trying to split as few counties and where applicable towns/cities/etc as possible.



New Hampshire North 101,429, 55.3% Obama
Lebanon 101,065, 62.5% Obama
Cheshire 101,923, 62.4% Obama
Concord 100,708, 58.1% Obama
Belknap 100,859, 51.3% Obama (would no doubt elect a Republican)
Dover & Rochester 103,347, 61.5% Obama
Mid Rockingham (or whatever you'd call it) 100,251, 53.3% McCain
Portsmouth 101,608, 57.7% Obama
Derry & Salem (or just West Rockingham) 104,559, 53.7% McCain
West Hillsborough 99,655, 51.1% Obama (would no doubt elect a Republican)
Manchester 100,966, 81.8% anglo, 55.2% Obama
Merrimack & Hudson (or I guess East Hillsborough will be better) 100,931, 53.5% McCain
Nashua 99,169, 81.0% anglo, 54.9% Obama

All other districts over 90% anglo.

[minionofmidas]

York Coastal 99,177, 62.8% Obama
York West 97,954, 55.5% Obama
Cumberland West 103,639, 57.0% Obama
Cumberland East 99,389, 60.1% Obama
Portland 100,211, 86.3% Anglo, 73.9% Obama (all other districts over 90% Anglo)
Knox, Lincoln & Sagadahoc 100,702, 57.2% Obama
Oxford, Franklin & West Kennebec 100,856, 57.4% Obama
Androscoggin 100,094, 56.4% Obama
Kennebec 104,723, 56.6% Obama
Hancock & Waldo 106,926, 55.9% Obama
Bangor 104,066, 53.7% Obama
Somerset, Piscataquis & North Penobscot 105,898, 49.6% Obama
Aroostook & Washington 104,726, 52.4% Obama

I didn't do it on purpose. Honest. Neither the Obama-carries-everything bit (it's not as if Somerset etc would vote for a Democrat anyways. Though all the others might.) nor the Eastern-districts-are-larger-on-average bit. That was a result of keeping county splits down.

[minionofmidas]

Too easy.

Burlington 105,606, 89.6% Anglo, 75.2% Obama
Northwest 105,655, 63.4% Obama
Northeast 103,809, 65.5% Obama
Central 105,617, 68.2% Obama
Rutland & Bennington 103,871, 62.8% Obama
Windsor & Windham 101,183, 71.0% Obama

[minionofmidas]

All of Massachusetts that I'll do for now:



Berkshire 198,126, 72.2% D
Franklin & North Berkshire 104,465, 69.4% D
Amherst 103,899, 85.0% Anglo, 62.0% D
Northampton & Westfield 105,353, 89.0% Anglo, 56.9% D
West Springfield, Agawam & Holyoke 103,367, 72.3% Anglo, 22.0% Hispanic, 53.5% R (and Southwick actually, while lacking one precinct in Holyoke. Splitting Southwick instead couldn't be done within the 5000 tolerance level)
Springfield North & Chicopee 104,069, 58.8% White, 27.1% Hispanic, 10.6% Black, 56.8% D
Springfield South 104,289, 37.8% Hispanic, 37.4% White, 19.6% Black, 66.1% D
Hampden East 100,593, 59.3 R

These "averages" are from all I hear way too R heavy.

[minionofmidas]

I'm not sure I'm ready to get that technical. West Springfield to boondogs just sounds... very very wrong. (I mean, I looked at options to avoid that western extension to Amherst, and if I could have done it with one additional county split I'd probably have gone with it. Seems to take two, though.)

EDIT: And it's not necessary.
North Berkshire
Franklin & East Hampshire
Amherst, Hadley, South Hadley, Northampton, Easthampton
Holyoke, West Springfield, Agawam
South Berkshire, West Hampshire, West Hampden incl. Westfield

Holyoke is 4k under and all the others are 3-5k over, but it's legal. Will be in the final state map to come later today. Now I go play with Springfield to up the nonwhite percentage without splitting more than one ward.

[minionofmidas]

One district obviously has to, more than half the population being west of the mountains. And you're not going to avoid using Addison County, except by splitting Burlington, drawing part with Addison and part with Barre/Montpelier. You could trade out Orange for the remainder of Washington and parts of Lamoille. Or even put Lamoille into the northeast district and walk the Burlington seat north to get Shelburne into the Montpelier to Addison district, maybe.

[minionofmidas]

Please disregard Boston on the maps above, the version covered in the numbers table to follow is here:

[minionofmidas]

Magic of rightclick works for all the above maps, of course.

Ah right, I also renumbered Middlesex County again after creating the state overview map (because I had a town split between nonconsecutively numbered districts, and that's unaesthetic!)

8 districts in Western Massachusetts
North Berkshire 105,388, 73.3 D, 90.2 (Format will be Anglo-Hispanic-Black-Asian unless stated. Groups over 10% listed.)
South Berkshire - Westfield 104,474, 51.3 D, 92.2
Franklin - East Hampshire 103,454, 62.1 D, 92.5
Amherst - Northampton 105,185, 72.3 D, 82.2
Holyoke, West Springfield, Agawam 96,709, 51.8 R, 70.6-23.5
Springfield W 103,054, 74.0 D, 27.5-46.9-20.9 (5th ward is split)
Chicopee - Springfield E 103,504, 53.1 D, 68.2-18.3
East Hampden 100,593, 59.3 R, 92.5

8 Districts in Worcester County
Gardner - West Worcester Co. 103,113, 60.9 R, 93.1
Fitchburg, Leominster 98,440, 59.4 R, 75.7-15.3
Mid Worcester Co (light green) 101,133, 59.9 R, 89.8
Worcester NW - Auburn 98,699, 54.2 D, 73.9-11.6
Worcester SE 98,534, 61.4 D, 50.7-27.2-11.3 (4rd ward is split. Maximized the nonwhite share despite not getting it over 50%)
SW Worcester Co 102,566, 63.3 R, 88.6
Shrewsbury etc (orange, east of Worcester) 98,433, 57.5 R, 81.3-12.2 Asian
Milford - SE Worcester Co 97,634, 64.1 R, 91.3

13 Districts in Middlesex County, excluding Somerville. Couldn't quite avoid townsplits.
Framingham 99,836, 50.5 D, 72.0-10.2
Natick etc 102,692, 51.0 D, 87.7
Marlborough - Concord 103,744, 52.3 D, 80.9
Dracut - NW Middlesex 98,747, 63.6 R, 89.9 includes the 1st ward of Lowell (which is the whitest, at least along the north side)
Lowell 100,481, 52.2 D, 50.6-18.1-21.0 Asian
Tewksbury etc (pinkish, east of Lowell) 102,299, 64.9 R, 91.5
Chelmsford etc (puke-colored, south of Lowell) 102,286, 53.9 R, 84.4-10.8 Asian. Splits Lexington with...
Woburn etc 105,067, 50.7 R, 80.5-11.4 Asian
Melrose & points north 98,099, 56.0 R, 91.4
Everett & Malden 101,117, 57.0 D, 52.9-13.6-14.0-13.8
Medford & Arlington 99,017, 63.5 D, 79.4
Watertown & points west 103,735, 58.9 D, 77.8. Splits Waltham with...
Newton 105,049, 67.3 D, 71.4-11.1 Asian
Cambridge 105,162, 85.5 D, 62.1-11.0 Black-15.1 Asian

8 Districts in Boston, Somerville, Brookline and Chelsea
This is a compromise between respect for ward boundaries, racial gerrymandering, compactness, and the constraints offereed by a below-quota total population. It splits more wards than would have been technically necessary.
Somerville 102,821, 70.3 D, 72.4
West Boston (orange) 95,901, 69.7 D, 64.6-10.7-15.3 Asian
Brookline 97,155, 72.1 D, 72.9-14.6 Asian
southern districts from west to east
99,311, 70.0 D, 58.2-17.7-16.7
95,960, 92.7 D, 16.1-24.5-50.9
98,630, 89.3 D, 10.5-19.1-53.5
97,259, 61.7 D, 67.2-11.6 Asian
Chelsea 100,220, 62.1 D, 38.3-45.3 (still plurality White VAP though. Couldn't get that corrected without carving into Revere.)

8 Districts in Essex, Revere and Winthrop, aka 7 in Essex excluding Saugus
Revere, Winthrop, Saugus 95,880, 55.5 R, 74.7-15.4
Lynn 105,335, 50.6 D, 54.2-27.8
Salem 105,420, 50.7 R, 84.2. Splits Peabody with...
Beverly etc (light green) 97,721, 57.6 R, 92.6
Methuen West - Andover 101,260, 61.6 R, 82.7 Splits Methuen with...
Lawrence - Methuen East 100,877, 56.7 D, 34.5-59.3
Haverhill & Amesbury 102,477, 58.2 R, 86.0
Gloucester & Newburyport 103,441, 53.1 R, 94.9
There is but one alignment of towns that avoids splitting Methuen (or Lawrence. Or Haverhill, possibly - not sure about that), and it crosses the county line and it didn't exactly make the task in Middlesex easier, either. Even though the average populations would have been more balanced.

6 Districts in Norfolk County (excluding detached portions)
Needham etc 101,804, 51.6 R, 86.8
West Norfolk Co 99,056, 64.6 R, 91.7
WC Norfolk Co (Norwood & points sw) 99,173, 57.8 R, 87.2
C Norfolk Co (south from Milton) 102,433, 52.3 D, 65.7-19.4 Black. Splits Milton with...
Quincy 101,832, 50.1 R, 67.7-22.2 Asian
Braintree & Weymouth 100,278, 58.7 R, 86.3

13 Districts in the Old Colony
Hingham to Marshfield (very pale coastal district) 101,094, 59.8 R, 95.6
Abington etc (very pale district inland from that) 96,351, 65.4 R, 93.6
Brockton 100,726, 54.9 D, 46.4-27.8 Black-13.9 Other (Capeverdeans)
Plymouth 98,485, 62.0 R, 93.8
Wareham etc 98,996, 61.7 R, 92.2 Includes Bourne town in Barnstable County
Taunton - Bridgewater 95,820, 58.9 R, 86.8 Also crosses a county line
North Bristol County 105,647, 64.8 R, 91.4
Attleboro-Somerset 98,431, 56.6 R, 90.5
There are two possible alignments of towns here. The other one exchanges North Attleboro for Somerset and Deignton and is even worse. Rehoboth will have to lump it.
Fall River 101,143, 57.9 D, 84.9 Splits Freetown with...
New Bedford 98,067, 65.5 D, 68.8-16.3. Split is exceedingly reasonable, though.
South Bristol County - Islands 102,447, 55.4 D, 91.1 Took a while to figure this least-damage alignment out
West Cape Cod 97,599, 57.8 R, 92.2 Splits Barnstable with...
East Cape Cod 98,535, 51.2 R, 90.4

Phew.

[minionofmidas]

One district obviously has to, more than half the population being west of the mountains. And you're not going to avoid using Addison County, except by splitting Burlington, drawing part with Addison and part with Barre/Montpelier. You could trade out Orange for the remainder of Washington and parts of Lamoille. Or even put Lamoille into the northeast district and walk the Burlington seat north to get Shelburne into the Montpelier to Addison district, maybe.

[minionofmidas]

Which one? Orange West Boston, with the swinging nutsack and the inexplicable stuff to the west that's probably usually hidden from sight on the inside of the torso?

[minionofmidas]

One additional county split; prevents an additional town split and an even worse design for the ninth district (in the Kent County part).

No election data for RI, populations are in the image.
1 Woonsocket, N Smithfield, Burrilville, Glocester (sic), Scituate, Foster. 85.2% Anglo
2 Cumberland, Lincoln, Smithfield, Central Falls. 77.8% Anglo, 15.2% Hispanic
3 Johnston, N Providence, nw sections of Providence. 74.2% Anglo, 14.3% Hispanic
4 Pawtucket, ne sections of Providence. 57.1% Anglo, 19.1% Hispanic, 12.5% Black
5 c and s sections of Providence. 55.1% Hispanic, 18.4% Anglo, 15.5% Black. VAP Majority.
6 e sections of Providence, E Providence, Barrington, Warren. 81.7% Anglo
7 Cranston, n sections of E Warwick. 79.0% Anglo, 10.0% Hispanic
8 Warwick, s sections of E Warwick. 90.5% Anglo
9 Coventry, W Greenwich, E Greenwich, Exeter, N Kingstown, Jamestown (Conanicut Island). 94.0% Anglo
10 Narragansett, South Kingstown, Richmond, Hopkinton, Charlestown, Westerly, New Shoreham (Block Island). 92.1% Anglo
11 Bristol, Portsmouth, Middletown, Newport, Tiverton, Little Compton. 89.1% Anglo

[minionofmidas]

Yes that one.

It's just your dirty mind. It doesn't look phallic at all.

[minionofmidas]

SW insert:



Populations for all but the first four in the first image.

Windham 100,230, 57.0% Obama, 83.8, 10.9 Hispanic
Tolland N - Woodstock 102,416, 56.7% Obama, 88.5
Tolland S - Colchester 96,000, 61.0% Obama, 89.1
Norwich 96,512, 57.6% Obama, 77.0
New London 63.6% Obama, 71.8, 12.5 Hispanic
Waterford - Old Saybrook (or whatever you want to call it. Teal) 59.1% Obama, 90.0
Middletown 63.3% Obama, 81.6
Branford (is the largest town. Across the NH-NL line, anyways) 57.4% Obama, 91.8
New Haven N 88.8% Obama, 29.5, 42.9 Black, 20.5 Hispanic. Includes part of Hamden
New Haven S 72.9% Obama, 48.0, 27.2 Hispanic, 17.8 Black. Includes West Haven
East Haven - North Haven - Hamden 59.7% Obama, 79.4
Meriden & Wallingford 63.5% Obama, 68.0, 21.9 Hispanic
Naugatuck - Cheshire just 51.4% Obama, 83.8. Includes part of Waterbury.
Waterbury 65.8% Obama, 41.5, 33.7 Hispanic, 19.1 Black
Milford (& points north) just 54.7% Obama, 80.9
Southbury - Newtown (- whatever. Green thingy) 49.9% McCain (yes!), 90.5
Bridgeport (Central) 87.7% Obama, 15.4, 42.7 Hispanic, 35.4 Black
Stratford (- Shelton - Bridgeport E) 55.6% Obama, 70.9, 12.8 Hispanic, 11.5 Black
Trumbull (- Bridgeport NW - points north) 54.1% Obama, 71.9, 12.9 Hispanic
Fairfield & Westport (& two precincts in Norwalk) 59.2% Obama, 87.1
Norwalk & Darien 61.2% Obama, 61.6, 21.0 Hispanic, 11.3 Black
Stamford (S) 67.1% Obama, 46.7, 27.7 Hispanic, 15.3 Black
Greenwich - Stamford N - New Canaan just 52.3% Obama, 83.1
Ridgefield - Bethel (purple thingy south of Danbury) just 53.5% Obama, 89.4
Danbury 56.0% Obama, 63.5, 21.2 Hispanic
Southington (grey, southern Hartford County district that includes one Fairfield town) just 53.1% Obama, 89.7
Bristol & Farmington 59.1% Obama, 84.1
New Britain & Newington 69.5% Obama, 57.8, 28.2 Hispanic
Manchester & Glastonbury (& Marlborough...) 63.2% Obama, 74.5
Hartford E - Wethersfield - East Hartford 70.0% Obama, 48.3, 28.1 Hispanic, 16.9 Black
Hartford W 92.5% Obama, 14.4, 40.6 Hispanic, 39.9 Black
West Hartford (& points west) 63.4% Obama, 80.8
Enfield - South Windsor 58.2% Obama, 83.4
Windsor - Simsbury 66.8% Obama, 66.7, 22.5 Black. Black Flight areas just outside Hartford. Didn't know that.
Litchfield North just 54.2% Obama, 90.7
Litchfield South 49.7% McCain(!), 91.9

So... two McCain districts, though there'd inevitably be a fair few Republicans left. And those two are under 50% McCain.

[minionofmidas]

I'm going to start working on California. It might take a while.

Also are we trying to follow the VRA?

Not the VRA as a law with huge basketful of attached case law, no. But I try to avoid carving minority areas up unnecessarily, or stranding minority precincts just outside minority-opportunity districts.

8 Districts in Essex, Revere and Winthrop, aka 7 in Essex excluding Saugus
Revere, Winthrop, Saugus 95,880, 55.5 R, 74.7-15.4
Lynn 105,335, 50.6 D, 54.2-27.8
Salem 105,420, 50.7 R, 84.2. Splits Peabody with...
Beverly etc (light green) 97,721, 57.6 R, 92.6
Methuen West - Andover 101,260, 61.6 R, 82.7 Splits Methuen with...
Lawrence - Methuen East 100,877, 56.7 D, 34.5-59.3
Haverhill & Amesbury 102,477, 58.2 R, 86.0
Gloucester & Newburyport 103,441, 53.1 R, 94.9
There is but one alignment of towns that avoids splitting Methuen (or Lawrence. Or Haverhill, possibly - not sure about that), and it crosses the county line and it didn't exactly make the task in Middlesex easier, either. Even though the average populations would have been more balanced.

Since you were willing to hop from southern Bristol to the Islands, I think you have a better solution to Essex with no splits. The key is to know that Nahant is really an island with an artificial causeway to connect it by road to Lynn. There are still some who travel by boat to leave Nahant. With that in mind, you could put Nahant in the district with Saugus, etc. since it was under population anyway.

With Nahant out of the way, keep your Haverill district (+1744), and place Lawrence with North Andover (+3996). The Gloucester district goes to Boxford (+2909) and then Peabody, Danvers, Middleton, Topsfield, and Hamilton make a district (+4722). Finally within the county Salem, Beverly and Marblehead are one district (-83) and Lynn and Swampscott make the last (+3383). the remaining towns link to Middlesex.

Re Muon: To be precise, Methuen and Andover link to Wilmington, literally the only alignment for Methuen that doesn't split a town, and northeast Middlesex, difficult even as is, is shot straight to hell. I had that at one point, though I also had a different arrangement for the Haverhill and coastal districts.

[minionofmidas]

[quote author=traininthedistance link=topic=149250.msg3205775#msg3205775 date=1329878494
And each district section-by-section, working up from the south like NJ districts tend to do.  Racial stats shown as White/Black/Hispanic/Asian noting all groups over 10 percent; all VAP.  I also assigned districts one of five race ratings after the fact, Safe or Lean D/R or Swing, many of which are probably debatable.[/quote]Just in case anyone wondered, I always reported the total population data. VAP is a bit irrelevant in an alternative universe where the VRA Case Law body doesn't exist.

Now I go look at your plans. 

[minionofmidas]

 

My pc is acting up atm, won't load New York, won't load Pennsylvania, is super slow on Ohio, so I'm jumping south for the time being.

Delaware is not wholly subdivided into towns and stuff, but provides some challenges of its own.

North New Castle 78% White, 11% Black, 62.0% Obama
Wilmington 53% Black, 32% White, 12% Hispanic, 86.7% Obama.
After Wilmington town, I looked in what direction I would find more Black-heavy precincts. Old New Castle (which is touristy and very white) got in the way in between.
West New Castle 73% White, 12% Black, 65.0% Obama
Central New Castle 70% White, 14% Hispanic, 10% Black, 68.1% Obama
South (Metro) New Castle 54% White, 29% Black, 72.2% Obama.
Yeah, I played with the boundaries of this (except towards Wilmington) to up the Black share a wee bit.
Middletown - Smyrna - Harrington 73% White, 18% Black, 54.2% Obama.
Meh. This was the only way to avoid some really tight cuts around Dover. Where city boundaries and precinct boundaries don't align (they do in New Castle County. The two places you see split are CDPs.) Obviously it's not ideal.
Dover 58% White, 28% Black, 57.3% Obama
Sussex West 68% White, 17% Black, 12% Hispanic, 56.8% McCain
Sussex East 83% White, 51.5% McCain.
I actually started with a north-south split that then developped into a nw-se split and in the end I decided, whatev. Especially as comparing race states with vote stats implies a definite distinction, if with a blurred lines, between an old-southey inland part and a retiree coast. Sorry for not getting the inland district off the coast entirely; I didn't want to split Milford three ways. Another particular annoyance is that one precinct between Georgetown and Riverview, west of the road - it includes tiny, quite possibly uninhabited, slivers of both cities.

[minionofmidas]

Broad outline of Maryland:
7 districts in the eastern shore and Harford County. That is, 2 in Harford, 1 in Harford and Cecil, and 4 on the Eastern Shore. Wicomico is the right size for a district, but that forces a very weird roadless wraparound, and it seems possible to draw a Salisbury & Cambridge district and a district to the south of that instead.
5 districts in Frederick County and points west. Hagerstown and Cumberland end up at the easternmost ends of the two westernmost districts, there is one urban district based on Frederick city.
8 districts for Baltimore County. Probably two Black ones.
17 districts for Baltimore, AA, Calvert, Howard and Carroll. Sounds like an odd pairing, but really that's 6 for Baltimore (probably 5 Black, 1 White) minus those areas by south of the harbor which are placed in an AA-dominated district. 4 wholly in AA. Calvert brought to population with southermost AA. A N Carroll district, a S Carroll/W Howard district. A Columbia district, an Ellicott City district, A SE Howard district spilling into AA.
21 in MontCo, PG's, Charles and St Mary's: 9 wholly in MontCo, 1 MontCo dominated district spilling into PG's, 8 wholly in PG's, 1 S PG's / Charles city, 1 rural Charles with a bit of St Anne's which is just too large for one district.

[minionofmidas]

Maryland is done



MontCo, PG's, Annie A



Baltimore



Numbered clockwise from the mountains.

Cumberland (- Garrett), 97214, 91% Anglo, 64.2% McCain
Hagerstown (- E Allegany), 97721, 83% Anglo, 55.0% McCain
E Washington - W Frederick, 97890, 88% Anglo, 59.9% McCain
Frederick city, 98176, 64% Anglo, 15% Black, 12% Hispanic, 57.5% Obama
SE Frederick, 94998, 86% Anglo, 54.6% McCain

N Carroll, 99301, 91% Anglo, 64.7% McCain
S Carroll - W Howard, 101883, 88% Anglo, 62.1% McCain
Columbia, 98896, 52% Anglo, 25% Black, 11% Asian, 72.1% Obama
Ellicott City, 102665, 64% Anglo, 20% Asian, 53.0% Obama
SE Howard - Severn W, 100560, 44% Anglo, 34% Black, 11% Asian, 65.0% Obama (best minority influence district possible if you refuse to split Columbia)
Crofton - Odenton, 101908, 72% Anglo, 15% Black, 49.7% Obama
Annapolis, 101914, 74% Anglo, 13% Black, 52.3% Obama
Calvert (- Deale Beach), 103010, 80% Anglo, 13% Black, 53.3% McCain
Arnold - Severna Park, 97779, 88% Anglo, 57.9% McCain
Glen Burnie - Severn E, 101089, 68% Anglo, 18% Black, 50.4% McCain
Curtis Bay - Baltimore S, 101181, 63% Anglo, 26% Black, 49.0% Obama (by 26 votes )
Baltimore Waterfront, 97998, 62% Anglo, 19% Black, 12% Hispanic, 68.1% Obama
Baltimore W, 96799, 87% Black, 96.3% Obama
Baltimore NW, 95727, 93% Black, 98.3% Obama
Baltimore N, 103847, 61% Anglo, 27% Black, 76.5% Obama
Baltimore E 101012, 86% Black, 95.7% Obama
Baltimore NE, 96064, 72% Black, 22% Anglo, 88.3% Obama

Catonsville - Arbatus, 97015, 66% Anglo, 22% Black, 56.0% Obama (had to intrude onto the Black parts of the county here, forcing gerried lines further north to not draw a heavy pack and a weak Black influence district. This is also why this district had to be on the low end populationwise.)
Lochearn - Pikesville - Owings Mills, 102193, 53% Black, 35% Anglo, 79.9% Obama
Randallstown - Reisterstown, 103418, 59% Black, 30% Anglo, 80.1% Obama
N Baltimore County, 103051, 82% Anglo, 54.8% McCain
Towson, 100486, 73% Anglo, 17% Black, 55.5% Obama
Carney - Perry Hall, 100470, 79% Anglo, 57.7% McCain
Dundalk, 95430, 74% Anglo, 16% Black, 51.1% McCain
Essex - Middle River, 102966, 68% Anglo, 21% Black, 52.4% McCain

Edgewood - Aberdeen, 102376, 66% Anglo, 23% Black, 50.3% Obama (yeah, sort of gerried. Emmontown has to be split anyways though, and it's not as if this'd actually elect a Democrat, military turnout and voting pattern in 2008 having been the outlier it was)
Bel Air - Jarrettsville, 97143, 90% Anglo, 66.6% McCain
Havre de Grace, 99866, 89% Anglo, 61.4% McCain
Eastern Shore N (or Elkton - Chestertown), 96387, 82% Anglo, 10% Black, 53.5% McCain
Eastern Shore C (or Easton - Kent Island), 96729, 80% Anglo, 12% Black, 58.7% McCain (alternatively you can switch out Kent Island for the rural parts of Kent County. Kent Narrows / Queenstown goes to the northern district either way. Partisan effect is negligible, N gets marginally safer)
Salisbury - Cambridge, 100317, 63% Anglo, 27% Black, 50.7% McCain (introducing to you... the McCain district that would likely elect a Democrat. Common to the areas this thread will soon move to, but not seen anywhere northeast of here.)
Eastern Shore S (or Ocean City - Somerset), 101234, 73% Anglo, 21% Black, 56.5% McCain

Saint Mary's, 101425, 76% Anglo, 15% Black, 55.6% McCain
Charles Outer, 99467, 58% Anglo, 32% Black, 57.9% Obama
Saint Charles - Clinton, 95005, 64% Black, 23% Anglo, 82.1% Obama
Fort Washington - Glassmanor, 98220, 80% Black, 93.6% Obama
Suitland - Pagetts Corner, 97885, 85% Black, 96.1% Obama
Seat Pleasant - Mount Rainier, 100164, 74% Black, 18% Hispanic, 95.7% Obama
Upper Marlboro, 96467, 81% Black, 12% Anglo, 91.5% Obama
Bowie, 102187, 61% Black, 27% Anglo, 80.8% Obama
Seabrook - Dodge Park, 96590, 65% Black, 19% Hispanic, 91.3% Obama
Adelphi - East Riverdale, 98429, 50% Hispanic, 30% Black, 13% Anglo, 85.3% Obama (best I could do for a Hispanic district in PGs. Likely still Black plurality CVAP.)
College Park - South Laurel, 96476, 37% Anglo, 35% Black, 17% Hispanic, 77.8% Obama
Laurel - Columbia Pike, 101624, 44% Black, 26% Anglo, 15% Hispanic, 13% Asian, 78.9% Obama (again, best I could do for a Black-opportunity district in MontCo. Well mostly in MontCo.)
Aspen Hill - Rossmoor, 98937, 44% Anglo, 21% Black, 20% Hispanic, 12% Asian, 71.6% Obama
Wheaton - Glenmont - Silver Spring E, 100911, 40% Hispanic, 27% Anglo, 19% Black, 11% Asian, 76.4% Obama (another attempt at a Hispanic opportunity. From here on, all I could do was draw some heavily White districts and some coalition districts that are still plurality White. MontCo's not-too-super-posh parts just are that integrated.)
Silver Spring - Takoma Park, 98542, 50% Anglo, 23% Black, 16% Hispanic, 82.4% Obama
Bethesda, 98571, 79% Anglo, 75.1% Obama
Potomac, 102875, 68% Anglo, 16% Asian, 65.5% Obama
Rockville - North Potomac, 99448, 57% Anglo, 25% Asian, 69.1% Obama
Montgomery Village - Gaithersburg, 96282, 36% Anglo, 27% Hispanic, 20% Black, 13% Asian, 69.4% Obama
Germantown, 103839, 34% Anglo, 22% Black, 21% Hispanic, 20% Asian, 72.0% Obama
Olney - Damascus, 103555, 65% Anglo, 12% Asian, 11% Black, 57.2% Obama

[minionofmidas]

Ah, I see. Well done.

[minionofmidas]

A map of Virginia. 80 districts. Presidential figures for this state are 2PP btw.



Newport E, 99027, 69% Black, 20% Anglo, 85.7% Obama
Newport W, 97485, 61% Anglo, 24% Black, 62.9% Obama
Newport N / VB NW, 98375, 56% Anglo, 28% Black, 58.0% Obama
VB NE (I'd probably name these after neighborhoods, if I were a Commission and knew the place better), 95477, 83% Anglo (very much a pack of the lilywhite bits), 59.9% McCain
VB C (uh... the yellow one), 95680, 63% Anglo, 20% Black, 51.1% McCain
VB SW, 96101, 47% Anglo, 28% Black, 12% Asian (uniting the minority-heavy parts as far as was practicable), 57.1% Obama
VB SE, 98679, 72% Anglo, 14% Black, 56.7% McCain

Chesapeake N, 102244, 51% Anglo, 37% Black, 58.7% Obama
Chesapeake S, 100186, 70% Anglo, 22% Black, 59.0% McCain
Suffolk - Pughsville, 104364, 53% Anglo, 39% Black, 53.2% Obama

Portsmouth, 95535, 53% Black, 40% Anglo, 67.4% Obama

Hampton W, 100016, 57% Black, 32% Anglo, 74.7% Obama
Hampton E - (Poquoson -) Eastern Shore, 95123, 66% Anglo, 25% Black, 53.4% McCain

Newport News E (god, I labored on that gerry), 96091, 51% Black, 36% Anglo (not majority Black VAP), 72.0% Obama
Newport News W, 97382 (incl. 13k in York County), 59% Anglo, 27% Black, 53.7% Obama
York (E) - Gloucester - Mathews, 98546, 80% Anglo, 10% Black, 64.1% McCain

Williamsburg - James City - New Kent, 99506, 77% Anglo, 13% Black, 54.8% McCain



Hanover, 99863, 86% Anglo, 67.6% McCain

Henrico NE (or you could just pick some development names at random), 98879, 64% Black, 29% Anglo, 77.6% Obama
Henrico NW (Lakeside is pretty big), 101313, 65% Anglo, 16% Black, 10% Asian, 52.4% McCain
Henrico W (Tuckahoe), 96476, 75% Anglo, 56.5% McCain

Richmond N, 102684, 49% Anglo, 43% Black, 77.0% Obama
Richmond S, 101530, 57% Black, 29% Anglo, 10% Hispanic, 82.5% Obama (a good example of how I'm ideally trying to treat minority areas here. First I split the city along the river. Then I noticed the southern side was Black majority and needed population, while the northern side was barely White plurality. So I identified a readily-accessible Black bit on the north side to go into the southern district. Though in this case I just notice that I limited myself by insisting on catching the bridge. So, eh, here's the alternate set of numbers if you exchange that downtown precinct, which is white-majority with a Black and some Hispanic presence, for the two just easternmost ones, which are all-Black:
Richmond N, 99384, 52% Anglo, 40% Black, 76.0% Obama
Richmond S, 104380, 60% Black, 27% Anglo, 83.4% Obama)

Chesterfield C (uh... EC? Or Bensley Village), 98530, 46% Anglo, 35% Black, 13% Hispanic, 57.7% Obama (and drawn to maximize minority presence)
Chesterfield NW, 100876, 78% Anglo, 12% Black, 58.5% McCain
Chesterfield S (includes Colonial Heights), 97937, 74% Anglo, 17% Black, 61.0% McCain

Hopewell, with Surry, Charles City, half of PG, remants of Henrico and Chesterfield, 96070, 62% Anglo, 28% Black, 52.8% McCain
Petersburg, with Dinwiddie, Sussex, remainder of PG, 95639, 52% Black, 41% Anglo, 63.0% Obama

Isle of Wight - Franklin - Emporia (and 3 more counties), 98026, 54% Anglo, 42% Black, 52.6% Obama (Isle of Wight had to go somewhere )
Mecklenburg, Amelia etc, 97552, 61% Anglo, 34% Black, 52.1% McCain
Powhatan, Goochland etc, 102652, 75% Anglo, 21% Black, 59.4% McCain

Halifax etc (with bulk of Campbell and small corner of Pittsylvania), 103805, 71% Anglo, 26% Black, 59.9% McCain
Lynchburg (with suburbs in Amherst and Campbell Counties), 104869, 68% Anglo, 24% Black, 57.9% McCain
Bedford (city and county) - Amherst (bulk of), 96222, 86% Anglo, 66.8% McCain
Danville - Pittsylvania (bulk of), 103126, 63% Anglo, 33% Black, 54.2% McCain

Martinsville - (Henry - ) E Franklin, 96301, 72% Anglo, 22% Black, 54.0% McCain
Carroll, Patrick, Floyd, W Franklin, 98683, 92% Anglo, 64.8% McCain

Bristol, Washington, Grayson, S Scott, 100297, 95% Anglo, 67.6% McCain
Norton, Wise, Lee, Dickenson, N Scott, 98024, 94% Anglo, 61.9% McCain

Russell, Tazewell, Buchanan, 98073, 96% Anglo, 60.8% McCain
Pulaski, Wythe, Smyth, 96315, 94% Anglo, 63.8% McCain

Montgomery (bulk of) - Radford, 104877, 85% Anglo, 52.8% Obama
Covington, 5 counties and parts of 2 more, 103968, 94% Anglo, 61.7% McCain
Roanoke city, 97032, 62% Anglo, 28% Black, 61.5% Obama
Salem - Roanoke county (bulk of), 103792, 88% Anglo, 60.4% McCain (a donut constituency!)

Lexington, Buena Vista, 4 counties and parts of 2 more, 100847, 91% Anglo, 60.5% McCain
Staunton - Waynesboro - Augusta (bulk of), 98220, 87% Anglo, 62.1% McCain
Harrisonburg - E Rockingham, 102734, 82% Anglo, 11% Hispanic(!), 58.4% McCain

Shenandoah - Page - Warren, 103610, 91% Anglo, 60.6% McCain
Winchester - Frederick, 104508, 82% Anglo, 59.6% McCain

8 counties around the Northern Neck, 95419, 68% Anglo, 26% Black, 53.8% McCain

(rural) Spotsylvania - Caroline - King George, 100639, 74% Anglo, 18% Black, 54.8% McCain
Fredericksburg - N Spotsylvania, 98173, 65% Anglo, 19% Black, 52.3% Obama

Charlottesville - S Albemarle, 97628, 70% Anglo, 15% Black, 69.5% Obama
N Albemarle - Louisa - Greene, 96373, 82% Anglo, 10% Black, 51.9% McCain

Culpeper etc (4 counties), 100851, 78% Anglo, 13% Black, 55.8% McCain



Warren - Clarke - parts of Stafford, 104746, 81% Anglo, 57.6% McCain (I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for drawing this stupid constituency. I think it saved a county cut.)
Stafford (bulk of), 103452, 66% Anglo, 17% Black, 53.1% McCain

Manassas (- Man Park - adjoining bits of PW), 100134, 42% Anglo, 34% Hispanic, 14% Black, 59.2% Obama. I probably race-gerried NoVa far too much, all to get a nice mix of strongly white and coalition districts. That will then probably go and vote for white guys anyways.)
West PW, 101956, 67% Anglo, 10% Hispanic, 55.1% McCain
EC PW (teal. "Lake Ridge - PW Forest"?), 103318, 59% Anglo, 18% Black, 13% Hispanic, 53.2% Obama
Dale City - Dumfries, 104759, 32% Anglo, 32% Black, 23% Hispanic, 71.0% Obama

Woodbridge - Lorton - Fort Belvoir, 95855, 41% Anglo, 23% Hispanic, 20% Black, 12% Asian, 63.3% Obama (crosses the county line into Fairfax)

West Springfield - Burke - points west, 100317, 66% Anglo, 15% Asian, 11% Hispanic, 52.0% Obama
Springfield - Newington - Woodland Park, 96472, 37% Anglo, 27% Hispanic, 20% Black, 13% Asian, 64.8% Obama
Fort Hunt - Franconia, 97087, 62% Anglo, 13% Hispanic, 13% Black, 60.8% Obama
Alexandria W - Lincolnia - Annandale S, 101897, 33% Anglo, 26% Hispanic, 22% Black, 17% Asian, 69.3% Obama
Alexandria, 101404, 62% Anglo, 16% Black, 14% Hispanic, 69.5% Obama
Arlington SE, 103721, 54% Anglo, 20% Hispanic, 12% Black, 11% Asian, 71.5% Obama
Arlington NW, 103906, 74% Anglo, 10% Hispanic, 67.3% Obama
McLean, 95473, 70% Anglo, 17% Asian, 55.8% Obama
Falls Church - Jefferson, 99615, 42% Anglo, 29% Hispanic, 19% Asian, 66.6% Obama
Lake Barcroft - Mantua - points west (yellow, se of Fairfax city), 103484, 63% Anglo, 17% Asian, 12% Hispanic, 56.6% Obama
Fairfax - Vienna - Wolf Trap, 102455, 64% Anglo, 17% Asian, 11% Hispanic, 56.7% Obama
Reston, 102957, 57% Anglo, 18% Hispanic, 14% Asian, 64.7% Obama
Chantilly, 103240, 57% Anglo, 24% Asian, 54.9% Obama
Centreville, 100262, 50% Anglo, 27% Asian, 12% Hispanic, 58.5% Obama

Dulles - Sterling, 104996, 48% Anglo, 23% Asian, 18% Hispanic, 56.4% Obama
Leesburg - Broad Run Farms, 104275, 64% Anglo, 13% Hispanic, 11% Asian, 53.9% Obama
West Loudoun, 103040, 76% Anglo, 50.2% Obama (and that says it all about just how badly McCain did in NoVa. Quite the challenge getting these three into the tolerance.)

[minionofmidas]

When you get to IL I'd be fascinated to see you do it with 109K instead of 100K - ie 118 districts.

No can do.

I've started with Ohio and managed to at least save my work (38/115 - NE Ohio) before it finally froze for seemingly good.
So now, here's some more light fare: the state of Columbia, entitled to six districts!



Georgetown 79% Anglo, 83.0% Obama
Chillum (or maybe Petworth? Or just Georgia Avenue?) 60% Black, 21% Hispanic, 15% Anglo, 96.6% Obama
Columbia Heights (if that's not actually split. Dupont Circle?) 60% Anglo, 16% Black, 14% Hispanic, 90.4% Obama
Arboretum 85% Black, 98.0% Obama
Capitol Hill 44% Anglo, 42% Black, 90.3% Obama
Anacostia 93% Black, 98.9% Obama. Which is possibly a record for the ages. Though maybe we can break 99% in Chicago somewhere.

[minionofmidas]

Populations in the image, election data not provided, racial data fairly dull - the least white districts are Charles Town / Martinsburg (83.0), Charleston / SW Kanawha (84.4, and Blackest at 10.0), Beckley (88.4) and Monongalia (89.7). The four whitest ones are all at 97.0 to 97.7 (the grey central district holding the record).

County splits: Clarksburg and Bridgeport both quite barely included in the Fairmont / Clarksburg district.
Putnam split puts the areas along the Charleston-Parkersburg interstate into the southern district and the areas along the Kanawha into the northern district. Though the interstate itself is the boundary in places.
Charleston district includes all of the city (which is on both banks of the Kanawha) and the left bank of the river below the city.
I did look at road links and valleys in splitting Wyoming and Fayette.
Berkeley split is just west of Martinsburg.

And if you wish, you may exchange Pleasants for Wirt Counties between the 2nd and 3rd, or even include both in the 3rd. I really don't know what's preferrable, I just notice all three are legal arrangements.

[minionofmidas]

When you get to IL I'd be fascinated to see you do it with 109K instead of 100K - ie 118 districts.

No can do.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Karma?

I think it is Parma.

Parma and Parma Heights are just the right size for a district together.

[minionofmidas]

Nordkarolinien. 95 districts.



Numbering scheme begins north of Greensboro.

Rockingham (and a bit of Caswell) 102514, 74-19 (Anglo-Black wherever not noted), 57.5% McCain
(bulk of) Caswell - Person - Granville (excl. Oxford) 105147, 62-30, 50.8% McCain
Franklin - Vance W (greater part) - Oxford 100387, 54-37, 56.3% Obama
Halifax - Warren - Vance E ( - two precincts in Northampton) 96268, 40-52, 64.8% Obama
Martin - Bertie - (bulk of) Northampton - Hertford - Chowan 101478, 43-53, 60.4% Obama

Pasquotank - Perquimans - Gates - Camden - Currituck 99838, 69-25, 53.0% McCain
Beaufort - Hyde - Washington - Tyrrell - Dare 105124, 70-22, 54.1% McCain

Pitt E 104796, 69-23, 52.4% McCain (there's a very clear racial divide through Greenville, and it is used here)
Pitt W - Edgecombe N (greater part) 103665, 34-58, 70.4% Obama
Wilson - Edgecombe S 97473, 51-38, 51.6% Obama

Nash 95840, 54-37, 50.4% McCain

Johnston W (Raleigh exurbs) 95591, 74-13, 60.7% McCain
Johnston E - Wayne W 97589, 68-16, 65.6% McCain
Wayne E 98321, 50-36-11 Hispanic, 50.5% Obama

Lenoir - Greene - Craven W 96371, 52-38, 51.6% McCain
Craven E (bulk of) - Pamlico 101135, 69-20, 56.0% McCain

Carteret - Jones - Ownslow E 100698, 83 Anglo, 65.8% McCain
Ownslow Jacksonville 103408, 62-19-12 Hispanic, 52.1% McCain
Pender - Ownslow W 102505, 76-14, 61.9% McCain

New Hanover NW 100425, 64-25, 59.7% Obama
New Hanover SE 102242, 89 Anglo, 58.9% McCain (anything looking towards the beach is here; anything looking towards the river is in NW. Of the couple of precincts in between, I went with the lily-white-goes-beach theme that was already established)

Brunswick (bulk of) 97589, 83-10, 59.3% McCain
Columbus - Bladen (- two precincts in Brunswick) 103130, 59-31, 51.2% McCain

Robeson (bulk of) 103837, 21-24-44 Lumbee, 60.1% Obama (shape is to avoid excising any heavily Lumbee areas, and also to avoid splitting Lumberton)
Hoke - Robeson N - Scotland N 98759, 42-34-11 Lumbee, 56.4% Obama. Sorry for the low contrast. Heightened for the screenshot below.
Richmond - Anson - Montgomery S - Scotland S 100397, 54-34, 53.4% Obama
Moore - Montgomery N 78-13, 60.9% McCain (boundary through Montgomery is another racial gerry of course)



Fort Bragg - Cumberland E 99640, 50-32-10 Hispanic, 56.9% Obama
Fayetteville N 104121, 31-51-10 Hispanic, 74.8% Obama. Explains the carveout in NW Fayetteville, I hope. The precincts at the eastern end are really heavily Black.
Fayetteville S (and south to the county line) 105213, 58-26, 52.9% McCain
Harnett E - Sampson W (- and one 10k precinct in Cumberland) 96730, 65-20, 62.0% McCain
Sampson (bulk of) - Duplin 105007, 50-28-19 Hispanic, 50.5% McCain
Lee - Harnett W 103200, 62-19-15 Hispanic, 55.1% McCain



SE Wake ("Holly Springs - Fuquay-Varina"?) 100583, 75-12, 56.0% McCain
Apex 103024, 73-11 Asian, 50.9% Obama
E Wake ("New Hope - Zebulon - Auburn"?) 95969, 45-33-17 Hispanic, 61.0% Obama
Raleigh SE 100915, 22-58-16 Hispanic, 84.8% Obama
Raleigh SW 97285, 67-17, 62.8% Obama
Cary 98975, 65-14 Asian, 55.9% Obama
Raleigh N 103701, 66-18-12 Hispanic, 58.2% Obama
N Wake (or Wake Forest) 102303, 72-16, 51.2% McCain
NW Wake ("Raleigh NW - Leesville"?) 98238, 76-11, 51.6% Obama

Durham E 101960, 21-59-16 Hispanic, 84.4% Obama
Durham SW 98379, 51-26-12 Hispanic, 76.1% Obama
Durham NW - Orange N 97238, 64-19-11 Hispanic, 60.8% Obama
Chapel Hill 103811, 70-11, 76-3% Obama

Chatham - Randolph E 100545, 75-11-11 Hispanic, 52.9% McCain
Randolph W 104712, 81-11 Hispanic, 70.6% McCain

Burlington 100398, 58-24-15 Hispanic, 50.8% Obama
Guilford E - Alamance W 100105, 81-12, 62.7% McCain
Greensboro E 97135, 24-63, 82.3% Obama (NE, 97976, 29-59, 79.9%)
Greensboro NW 102572, 76-14, 52.9% Obama (99740, 76-14, 53.9%)
Greensboro SW 100035, 41-39-10 Hispanic, 70.5% Obama (S, 102026, 38-43-11, 70.7%)
High Point 101230, 52-32, 54.3% Obama



(this map features the alternate lines given in brackets. Yeah, I just played with it again because I was dissatisfied with the heavy Blackpack)

Kernersville - Guilford NW 97068, 81 Anglo, 64.6% McCain
Winston-Salem E 95743, 25-53-19 Hispanic, 82.0% Obama
Winston-Salem NW (and to the county line) 97275, 73-15, 53.3% McCain
Winston-Salem SW (- Clemmons) 98646, 65-19-11, 52.8% Obama

Davidson E 103211, 85 Anglo, 69.9% McCain
Davidson W - Davie 100907, 81 Anglo, 63.7% McCain



Rowan W 101991, 67-21, 56.0% McCain
Stanly - Rowan E 97022, 86 Anglo, 70.0% McCain

Union W (exurbs) 100594, 83 Anglo, 66.8% McCain
Union E 100698, 66-16-15 Hispanic, 58.4% McCain

Cabarrus N (Concord) 104110, 68-17-12 Hispanic, 56.6% McCain
Cabarrus S (and three precincts along I-85 in Mecklenburg) 102442, 67-18, 53.1% McCain
Mecklenburg E (Mathews - Mint Hill) 97778, 73-13, 55.4% McCain
Mecklenburg S (Providence - Pineville. Though Providence is within city limits and partly within E, anyways) 98301, 65-15-11 Hispanic, 49.8% Obama
Charlotte S 100872, 70-14-10 Hispanic, 49.7% Obama
Charlotte E 99991, 27-41-25 Hispanic (this started as a half-assed attempt at a Hispanic opportunity district, but then got unpacked a little again since it didn't work anyways), 76.6% Obama
Charlotte C 95830, 71-18, 59.0% Obama
Charlotte W (- Berryhill) 100897, 23-52-18 Hispanic, 81.3% Obama
Charlotte NC 101411, 16-60-16 Hispanic, 87.0% Obama
Charlotte N (basically suburbs, though some of them Black ones and mostly within city limits) 96420, 37-47, 71.4% Obama
N Mecklenburg (Huntersville) 99587, 79 Anglo, 53.9% McCain

Iredell S (Mooresville) 101143, 84 Anglo, 64.9% McCain
Iredell N (Statesville) - Alexander 95492, 76-14, 61.0% McCain

Gaston N & E 104507, 86 Anglo, 68.8% McCain
Gaston SW (Gastonia) 101579, 65-23, 55.0% McCain

Cleveland 98078, 74-21, 59.5% McCain

Lincoln - Catawba SE 100806, 87 Anglo, 67.2% McCain
Catawba N 104565, 74-10-11 Hispanic, 58.5% McCain
Burke (bulk of) - Catawba SW 103752, 83 Anglo, 61.4% McCain
Yancey - Mitchell - Avery - McDowell N - Burke W 96671, 90 Anglo, 61.9% McCain
Rutherford - Polk - McDowell S 102251, 86 Anglo, 63.5% McCain

Henderson (bulk of) 96830, 84-10 Hispanic, 60.0% McCain
Buncombe SE (- bit of Henderson) 86 Anglo, 50.5% Obama
Asheville 100036, 80 Anglo, 67.0% Obama
Buncombe NW - Madison - Haywood N 99896, 93 Anglo, 54.3% McCain
Haywood S - Transylvania - Jackson (except the reservation precinct) 98376, 91 Anglo, 52.0% McCain
Macon - Clay - Cherokee - Graham - Swain ( - Eastern Cherokee) 100956, 85 Anglo, 61.9% McCain

And then I noticed I had four marooned districts, and they might actually fit at the very beginning, but was too lazy to renumber.
Caldwell - Watauga W 101332, 90 Anglo, 61.7% McCain
Watauga E - Ashe - Alleghany - Surry W 101307, 89 Anglo, 54.2% McCain
Wilkes - Yadkin (bulk of) 100191, 88 Anglo, 69.4% McCain
Surry E - Stokes (- bit of Yadkin) 98534, 89 Anglo, 66.3% McCain

[minionofmidas]

Writeup to come at some later time (gotta run) but I'd just like to note two things: There are parts of this map that I'm quite unhappy with, and might rework yet. Note particularly the pale pink district north of Columbia and the gerry at Sumter.
And not only are the four Richland County districts 18k undersized on balance (and I drew that county last!) ... three of them are barely Black majority.