NC redistricting revisited

[timothyinMD]

This has nothing to do with Md, but I opposed extreme gerrymandering consistently such as NC, OH and PA.. and crafted alternates that would be fairer.. example:

[timothyinMD]

This has nothing to do with Md, but I opposed extreme gerrymandering consistently such as NC, OH and PA.. and crafted alternates that would be fairer.. example:

Less ugly? Yes. Fairer. Not by a long shot.

Fairer because Wake and Mecklenberg each have their own CD, and the dems would have a slight edge in the Wake seat

[timothyinMD]

This has nothing to do with Md, but I opposed extreme gerrymandering consistently such as NC, OH and PA.. and crafted alternates that would be fairer.. example:

Less ugly? Yes. Fairer. Not by a long shot.

Fairer because Wake and Mecklenberg each have their own CD, and the dems would have a slight edge in the Wake seat

I'll give you that, perhaps, but:

1. Buncombe County is needlessly split for partisan gain, and
2. Greensboro is attached to Durham and Chapel Hill via a snake through Burlington, for partisan gain.

I'm also not fond of pairing inner-city Raleigh with rural blacks, but I guess that's unavoidable as long as the VRA forces racial gerrymandering.

So I guess it is in a sense, "fairer," but that's not saying much.

And does it force it if the district is below 50% BVAP? The district in the map looks like it might be to me below 50%.

Hmm... it looks like you may be right. After mapping it out myself, I'm under 50% BVAP with the district about 25K short, and no more black precincts in Raleigh. But it's not too far off, and can be brought above that threshold with a few minor alterations.

I'm no expert on how it is determined where VRA districts are legally required, but I'd say that as long as racial gerrymandering is enforced, one probably should be required in northeastern North Carolina. The black population there is fairly evenly spread out within the district, and there are no significant intervening areas of non-black population. Contrast this with the current NC-12, where I don't think a VRA district should be required, as it pairs blacks in Charlotte with blacks in Greensboro/Winston-Salem by stringing them together via a bunch a white areas.

In the NC map I drew, the 1st district is 48.5% VAP black if I remember correctly-- more than enough to elect a black representative

[timothyinMD]

Your percents for districts 5 and 6 are reversed I believe

[timothyinMD]

McCain districts
9 - 62.7
10 - 62.0
3 - 58.9
6 - 57.8
8 - 55.3
7 - 54.3
5 - 54.1
11 - 53.1
2 - 50.6

Obama districts
4 - 73.8 (34.5% VAP black, 50.2% VAP minorities)
1 - 68.1 (50.3% VAP black)
12 - 68.5 (35% VAP black, 53.9% VAP minorities)
13 - 52.4