Design your own map of the United States
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Author Topic: Design your own map of the United States  (Read 3997 times)
The world will shine with light in our nightmare
Just Passion Through
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« on: August 17, 2016, 09:15:39 AM »
« edited: August 17, 2016, 09:22:37 AM by a.scott »

What it says on the tin - redraw the state boundaries of the United States.  Make it as simple or as complex as you want for whichever purpose, be it for geographical, cultural, aesthetic, partisan purposes, or a mix.  The only rules are that the map must have fifty states, each state must be populous enough to sustain at least one Congressional district, and each state (with the exception of Michigan, surrounding islands, etc. must be contiguous).  Territories may not be counted as states, but DC may be converted to a state if you would like.  (Just state that you've done so for your map if you so choose.)  Everything else is up to you.



Here is my new map:


This is what changes:
- Appalachia becomes its own state
- DC becomes a state
- New York City becomes its own state (separate from Upstate NY)
- Upstate NY extends to Erie, PA
- Iowa absorbs Omaha, NE
- New Mexico absorbs El Paso, TX
- A new state ("Delta") is created as the first majority-black state in the United States, not counting DC
- The remainder of MS and AL merge and absorb the FL panhandle
- Chicagoland becomes its own state (minority-majority)
- Kansas City and Topeka form their own state, "Topansas" (minority-majority)
- Some changes made for aesthetic purposes (MO bootheel to AR, OK panhandle incorporates TX panhandle)
- Maryland absorbs Delaware ("Deryland")
- Tennessee and Kentucky merge ("Kentessee")
- A single "Dakota"
- Eastern Oregon and Washington merge ("Cascadia")
- Idaho merges with eastern OR/WA ("East Cascadia")

The end result is a map that grants more political autonomy to people in rural areas who are constantly outvoted by their urban peers, and vice-versa for small-to-midsize cities that are caught in seas of red (or Atlas blue).

How does this affect national politics?  By my estimates, Democrats would have a much stronger firewall in the electoral college.  Here is a map of the last presidential election with these boundaries, using (very rough) estimates for margin of victory:



As you can see: a comically polarized map.  I won't bother calculating the exact numbers, but if I had to guess I'd say Obama expands his victory in the electoral college by quite a lot.  With this map, Virginia is fairly safe for Democrats, and North Carolina (which retains Asheville) is a lot more inclined to favor Democrats in presidential races while remaining competitive in midterm elections.  Under these circumstances, I'd assume that Obama would have directed more resources to Georgia from Virginia, allowing him to narrowly take the state.  Nonetheless, I gave Georgia to Romney out of fairness.

(For those interested, this article does a great job predicting how an 'independent' Appalachia would affect neighboring state politics.  It's worth the read.)

Notice, also, how the formation of "Chicagoland" swings the rest of Illinois to Romney's column.  Obama narrowly won Illinois-sans-Chicago in 2008, but lost it in 2012.

So how would this affect control of the Senate?  Under the current alignment, the map would probably give us something like this (accounting for most recent Senate races and state fundamentals):

Republicans: 53
Democrats: 47

Even though I tried steering the boundaries to favor Democrats (while attempting to redraw borders that would accurately reflect cultural boundaries), this new composition only gives Democrats a net gain of one seat (assuming Manchin, McCaskill, Donnelly, and Heitkamp could not win in a neutral year in their respective 'new' states ... McCaskill probably would have won her last election without Kansas City, but she almost certainly wouldn't in any other year unless she moved to "Topansas."  This map also assumes a Kagan win in her last election in NC).

In conclusion, we are left with a presidential map that favors Democrats by default and a Senate map that's about as competitive as the current one.

So, that wraps up my contribution.  I look forward to seeing others'. Smiley
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Nyvin
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« Reply #1 on: August 17, 2016, 09:47:43 AM »

I'd give Rhode Island to Mass, and split CA into Northern and Southern.
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« Reply #2 on: August 17, 2016, 10:02:11 AM »

I'm surprised there isn't a website for this. Someone should make one.
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muon2
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« Reply #3 on: August 17, 2016, 10:48:20 AM »
« Edited: December 02, 2016, 06:05:09 PM by muon2 »

I posted a series of redrawn states back in 2013. Two of those posts were requoted in the 5 Midwests thread. The concept was to follow the Nine Nations of North America by J. Garreau (1981), preserve metro areas, and make each state no less than 50% nor more than 200% of the average population of 6.2 million. Data from dialects, agriculture, topography and religion all play into these borders.



Here are the states from that series. They're named for native peoples of the area. I've listed the principal city or cities and the 2010 population (in millions):

Ecotopia
Duwamish (Seattle) 4.7
Chinook (Portland) 3.6
Shasta (Sacramento) 3.6
Ohlone (San Francisco) 9.5

Empty Quarter
Paiute (Reno, Boise, Spokane) 4.8
Ute (Salt Lake City) 3.5
Navajo (Las Vegas) 3.4
Arapaho (Denver) 5.2

Breadbasket
Dakota (Omaha) 4.2
Ojibwe (Minneapolis) 5.6
Sauk (Madison, Des Moines) 5.1
Illini (St Louis) 5.8
Kansa (Kansas City) 4.3
Comanche (Oklahoma City) 5.3
Wichita (Dallas) 9.6

MexAmerica
Yokuts (Fresno) 4.1
Chumash (Los Angeles) 11.1
Cahuilla (San Diego) 10.5
O'odham (Phoenix) 5.7
Apache (El Paso) 3.1
Xarame (San Antonio) 4.3
Tonkawa (Houston) 5.9

New England
Abenaki (Manchester) 3.8
Wampanoag (Boston) 4.9
Pequot (Providence) 5.1

Foundry
Winnebago (Milwaukee) 4.0
Meskwaki (Chicago) 9.7
Potawatomi (Fort Wayne, Grand Rapids) 4.5
Ottawa (Detroit) 5.8
Erie (Cleveland) 4.3
Miami (Indianapolis, Columbus) 8.9
Mingo (Pittsburgh) 8.3
Iroquois (Buffalo) 5.1
Susquehannock (Washington, Baltimore) 10.9
Lenape (Philadelphia) 7.4
Raritan (Newark) 5.5
Munsee (New York) 8.4
Montauk (Brooklyn) 7.6

Dixie
Chitimacha (New Orleans) 3.7
Caddo (Shreveport) 3.3
Osage (Little Rock) 4.6
Tunica (Memphis) 4.4
Chickasaw (Atlanta) 9.4
Shawnee (Nashville, Louisville) 6.8
Cherokee (Knoxville) 8.8
Powhatan (Virginia Beach) 7.5
Catawba (Charlotte) 7.0
Muskogee (Montgomery, Augusta) 9.0
Seminole (Jacksonville) 9.8

Islands
Colusa (Miami) 7.1
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RINO Tom
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« Reply #4 on: August 17, 2016, 12:28:34 PM »

Sorry, but if you're going to rip apart IL, there are more divisions than Chicago vs. Downstate.  People in Peoria have much more in common with Chicagoans than they do people in far Southern IL, which is closer to Jackson, MS than it is to Chicago, IL...
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muon2
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« Reply #5 on: August 17, 2016, 12:36:52 PM »

Sorry, but if you're going to rip apart IL, there are more divisions than Chicago vs. Downstate.  People in Peoria have much more in common with Chicagoans than they do people in far Southern IL, which is closer to Jackson, MS than it is to Chicago, IL...

Of course. Though Peoria and Springfield often have more in common with St Louis than with Chicago.
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RINO Tom
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« Reply #6 on: August 17, 2016, 12:45:56 PM »

Sorry, but if you're going to rip apart IL, there are more divisions than Chicago vs. Downstate.  People in Peoria have much more in common with Chicagoans than they do people in far Southern IL, which is closer to Jackson, MS than it is to Chicago, IL...

Of course. Though Peoria and Springfield often have more in common with St Louis than with Chicago

Definitely Springfield, but I'd disagree on Peoria.  I notice more of a Chicago influence, personally.
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muon2
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« Reply #7 on: August 17, 2016, 02:49:29 PM »

Sorry, but if you're going to rip apart IL, there are more divisions than Chicago vs. Downstate.  People in Peoria have much more in common with Chicagoans than they do people in far Southern IL, which is closer to Jackson, MS than it is to Chicago, IL...

Of course. Though Peoria and Springfield often have more in common with St Louis than with Chicago

Definitely Springfield, but I'd disagree on Peoria.  I notice more of a Chicago influence, personally.

I understand where you are coming from. I live in the Chicago 'burbs and had a residence in Peoria for much of the last decade. I'd put Peoria and Bloomington on the dividing line between the Chicago and downstate spheres of influence. However, the mid-sized city surrounded by farmland vibe in Peoria gave it more in common with the other similar sized cities throughout central IL for me. Chicagoland doesn't have anything like it.
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Antonio the Sixth
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« Reply #8 on: August 17, 2016, 04:57:55 PM »

You missed it because you were away, but I did an entire megathread on that premise. Smiley It has 51 States because I counted DC (which I merged into MD) as the original 51st.

Here's what it looks like in 2012:



Barack H. Obama: 292 (-40)
Willard Mitt Romney: 246 (+40)
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Kingpoleon
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« Reply #9 on: August 17, 2016, 05:38:25 PM »

I posted a series of redrawn states back in 2013. Two of those posts were requoted in the 5 Midwests thread. The concept was to follow the Nine Nations of North America by J. Garreau (1981), preserve metro areas, and make each state no less than 50% nor more than 200% of the average population of 6.2 million. Data from dialects, agriculture, topography and religion all play into these borders.



Here are the states from that series. They're named for native peoples of the area. I've listed the principal city or cities and the 2010 population (in millions):

Ecotopia
Duwamish (Seattle) 4.7
Chinook (Portland) 3.6
Shasta (Sacramento) 3.6
Ohlone (San Francisco) 9.5

Empty Quarter
Paiute (Reno, Boise, Spokane) 4.8
Ute (Salt Lake City) 3.5
Navajo (Las Vegas) 3.4
Arapaho (Denver) 5.2

Breadbasket
Dakota (Omaha) 4.2
Ojibwe (Minneapolis) 5.5
Sauk (Madison, Des Moines) 5.1
Illini (St Louis) 5.8
Kansa (Kansas City) 4.3
Comanche (Oklahoma City) 5.3
Wichita (Dallas) 9.6

MexAmerica
Yokuts (Fresno) 4.1
Chumash (Los Angeles) 11.1
Cahuilla (San Diego) 10.5
O'odham (Phoenix) 5.7
Apache (El Paso) 3.2
Xarame (San Antonio) 4.3
Tonkawa (Houston) 5.9

New England
Abenaki (Manchester) 3.8
Wampanoag (Boston) 4.9
Pequot (Providence) 5.1

Foundry
Winnebago (Milwaukee) 4.2
Meskwaki (Chicago) 9.7
Potawatomi (Fort Wayne, Grand Rapids) 4.5
Ottawa (Detroit) 5.7
Erie (Cleveland) 4.3
Miami (Indianapolis, Columbus) 8.9
Mingo (Pittsburgh) 8.7
Iroquois (Buffalo) 5.1
Susquehannock (Washington, Baltimore) 10.8
Lenape (Philadelphia) 7.0
Raritan (Newark) 5.5
Munsee (New York) 8.4
Montauk (Brooklyn) 7.6

Dixie
Chitimacha (New Orleans) 3.7
Caddo (Shreveport) 3.3
Osage (Little Rock) 4.7
Tunica (Memphis) 4.3
Chickasaw (Atlanta) 9.3
Shawnee (Nashville, Louisville) 6.8
Cherokee (Knoxville) 8.8
Powhatan (Virginia Beach) 7.5
Catawba (Charlotte) 7.0
Muskogee (Montgomery, Augusta) 9.1
Seminole (Jacksonville) 9.8

Islands
Colusa (Miami) 7.1

I really like your map! Good job.
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« Reply #10 on: August 17, 2016, 05:41:26 PM »

You missed it because you were away, but I did an entire megathread on that premise. Smiley It has 51 States because I counted DC (which I merged into MD) as the original 51st.

Here's what it looks like in 2012:



Barack H. Obama: 292 (-40)
Willard Mitt Romney: 246 (+40)

That TL really is great.
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Goldwater
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« Reply #11 on: August 18, 2016, 10:42:41 AM »

So, California remains whole, yet Kansas is split apart? That's... odd. Tongue
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RI
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« Reply #12 on: August 18, 2016, 01:57:34 PM »

I'd much rather have states drawn based on geographic features rather than population demographics.
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Antonio the Sixth
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« Reply #13 on: August 18, 2016, 03:12:46 PM »

Muon, would you like to calculate what reapportionment and election results would look like under your map?
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muon2
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« Reply #14 on: August 18, 2016, 05:18:59 PM »

I calculated an apportionment and applied the 2012 results as well back in 2013. 436 seats are apportioned to account for the inclusion of DC. Here are the EV's and 2012 winning party.

Ecotopia
Duwamish (Seattle) 9 D
Chinook (Portland) 7 D
Shasta (Sacramento) 7 D
Ohlone (San Francisco) 15 D


Empty Quarter
Paiute (Reno, Boise, Spokane) 9 R
Ute (Salt Lake City) 7 R

Navajo (Las Vegas) 7 D
Arapaho (Denver) 9 R

Breadbasket
Dakota (Omaha) 8 R
Ojibwe (Minneapolis) 10 D
Sauk (Madison, Des Moines) 9 D
Illini (St Louis) 10 D

Kansa (Kansas City) 8 R
Comanche (Oklahoma City) 8 R
Wichita (Dallas) 8 R


MexAmerica
Yokuts (Fresno) 8 R
Chumash (Los Angeles) 18 D
Cahuilla (San Diego) 17 D

O'odham (Phoenix) 10 R
Apache (El Paso) 7 D
Xarame (San Antonio) 8 D

Tonkawa (Houston) 10 R

New England
Abenaki (Manchester) 7 D
Wampanoag (Boston) 9 D
Pequot (Providence) 9 D


Foundry
Winnebago (Milwaukee) 8 D
Meskwaki (Chicago) 16 D
Potawatomi (Fort Wayne, Grand Rapids) 8 D
Ottawa (Detroit) 10 D
Erie (Cleveland) 8 D
Miami (Indianapolis, Columbus) 15 R
Mingo (Pittsburgh) 14 D
Iroquois (Buffalo) 9 D
Susquehannock (Washington, Baltimore) 17 D
Lenape (Philadelphia) 12 D
Raritan (Newark) 10 D
Munsee (New York) 14 D
Montauk (Brooklyn) 13 D


Dixie
Chitimacha (New Orleans) 7 R
Caddo (Shreveport) 7 R
Osage (Little Rock) 9 R
Tunica (Memphis) 8 R
Chickasaw (Atlanta) 15 R
Shawnee (Nashville, Louisville) 12 R
Cherokee (Knoxville) 14 R
Powhatan (Virginia Beach) 13 R
Catawba (Charlotte) 12 R
Muskogee (Montgomery, Augusta) 15 R
Seminole (Jacksonville) 16 R


Islands
Colusa (Miami) 12 D

Total: Obama 300, Romney 236.
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President Punxsutawney Phil
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« Reply #15 on: August 23, 2016, 05:26:27 PM »


I got some inspiration from Tony.
This is a work in progress as regards to names. Borders are final though.
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RI
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« Reply #16 on: August 24, 2016, 12:00:48 AM »
« Edited: August 24, 2016, 12:03:48 AM by realisticidealist »


I got some inspiration from Tony.
This is a work in progress as regards to names. Borders are final though.

Your division of Oregon/Kootenai makes no sense to me. At the very least, Latah County must be in Oregon (there aren't even any real roads connecting Latah with most of Clearwater/Shoshone), and Kootenai County, ID could go either way.
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President Punxsutawney Phil
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« Reply #17 on: August 24, 2016, 08:47:50 AM »


I got some inspiration from Tony.
This is a work in progress as regards to names. Borders are final though.

Your division of Oregon/Kootenai makes no sense to me. At the very least, Latah County must be in Oregon (there aren't even any real roads connecting Latah with most of Clearwater/Shoshone), and Kootenai County, ID could go either way.
I will add a county in ID to Kootenai provide a better road connection to Latah. 
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Vern
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« Reply #18 on: September 01, 2016, 06:31:08 PM »



Here is my new america
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Goldwater
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« Reply #19 on: September 13, 2016, 05:09:59 PM »

I'm not sure if this really fits the thread topic, but here is a thing I did.

This is just a random thing I decided to think about to keep myself entertained while I didn't have internet. I deiced to divide the contiguous 48 states (+ DC) into 7 regions each consisting of 7 states, and this is what I came up with:



Region 1: The Northeast
Region 2: The Mid-Atlantic
Region 3: The South Atlantic/Gulf Coast
Region 4: The Upper South/Lower Plains
Region 5: The Midwest
Region 6: The Upper Plains/Mountain West
Region 7: The Southwest/Pacific Coast

I don't have the exact numbers, but if for some reason electoral votes were divided by regions instead of states, this is what I think the 2012 election would have looked like:



I think this map would be bad news for Republicans, since the region which would have most likely been required for their path to victory (The Southwest/Pacific Coast) has been trending very heavily D the bast few election cycles and is pretty much unwinnable for Trump, while I don't see any of the other Democratic regions flipping this election. In general, this would be how I view each region:

The Northeast: Easily safe D.
The Mid-Atlantic: Might have been winnable by Republicans at some point, but is pretty safe D at this point.
The South Atlantic/Gulf Coast: Currently pretty safely R, though with a pretty notable D trend recently.
The Upper South/Lower Plains: Safe R, pretty much the Republican eqivilant of the Northeast.
The Midwest: Somewhat battleground-ish, but almost always votes D in the end, despite certain areas trending R at various points in time.
The Upper Plains/Mountain West: A pretty safe R region, though not quite as safe as the Upper South/Lower Plains.
The Southwest/Pacific Coast: Went from being one of the most Republican regions 20-30 years ago, to being the primary battleground region, which at this point is far more likely to vote D than R.

So, what do you think of my regions, and my very rough and unprofessional election analysis? Smiley Tongue
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« Reply #20 on: September 13, 2016, 06:58:54 PM »

I decided to try to create a Republican gerrymander for the country using real state lines and dividing us into 7 roughly even regions.  The smallest is New Texas, which carries 59 EV, but will probably grow, and the largest is The Great Northeast, with 92 EV, but which will likely decline in size.  The result is two solidly Democratic states and five Republican-leaning states.



NOTE: All percentages are calculated using two-party vote share only.

THE GREAT NORTHEAST (Light Red, 92 EV)Sad
Capital: New York City
Obama: 12,874,496, 62.2%
Romney: 7,822,035, 37.8%
PVI: D+10

THE SOUTH ATLANTIC (Dark Blue, 91 EV)Sad
Capital: Atlanta
Romney: 12,662,622, 51.7%
Obama: 11,823,431, 48.3%
PVI: R+4

THE OHIO VALLEY (Light Green, 73 EV)Sad
Capital: Cincinnati
Romney: 9,729,585, 52.4%
Obama: 8,849,219, 47.6%
PVI: R+4

THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY (Medium Green, 62 EV)Sad
Capital: St. Louis
Romney: 7,551,659, 50.9%
Obama: 7,273,077, 49.1%
PVI: R+3

GREATER TEXAS (Light Blue, 59 EV)Sad
Capital: Dallas
Romney: 7,002,199, 56.1%
Obama: 5,490,107, 43.9%
PVI: R+8
Adding any neighboring states would only make this state more Republican, and it's important to save them for other states.  It could do without Oklahoma as well, but I didn't want to make it any smaller.

LAKES, PLAINS, MOUNTAINS, AND DESERT (Dark Green, 81 EV)Sad
Capital: Boise
Romney: 9,179,582, 51.3%
Obama: 8,718,638, 48.7%
PVI: R+3

ECOTOPIA (Dark Red, 78 EV)
Capital: San Francisco
Obama: 10,886,827, 60.8%
Romney: 7,005,518

Barring a Democratic landslide, Republicans should win 368-170.
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« Reply #21 on: September 19, 2016, 08:32:39 PM »

I decided to try to create a Republican gerrymander for the country using real state lines and dividing us into 7 roughly even regions.  The smallest is New Texas, which carries 59 EV, but will probably grow, and the largest is The Great Northeast, with 92 EV, but which will likely decline in size.  The result is two solidly Democratic states and five Republican-leaning states.

NOTE: All percentages are calculated using two-party vote share only.

THE GREAT NORTHEAST (Light Red, 92 EV)Sad
Capital: New York City
Obama: 12,874,496, 62.2%
Romney: 7,822,035, 37.8%
PVI: D+10

THE SOUTH ATLANTIC (Dark Blue, 91 EV)Sad
Capital: Atlanta
Romney: 12,662,622, 51.7%
Obama: 11,823,431, 48.3%
PVI: R+4

THE OHIO VALLEY (Light Green, 73 EV)Sad
Capital: Cincinnati
Romney: 9,729,585, 52.4%
Obama: 8,849,219, 47.6%
PVI: R+4

THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY (Medium Green, 62 EV)Sad
Capital: St. Louis
Romney: 7,551,659, 50.9%
Obama: 7,273,077, 49.1%
PVI: R+3

GREATER TEXAS (Light Blue, 59 EV)Sad
Capital: Dallas
Romney: 7,002,199, 56.1%
Obama: 5,490,107, 43.9%
PVI: R+8
Adding any neighboring states would only make this state more Republican, and it's important to save them for other states.  It could do without Oklahoma as well, but I didn't want to make it any smaller.

LAKES, PLAINS, MOUNTAINS, AND DESERT (Dark Green, 81 EV)Sad
Capital: Boise
Romney: 9,179,582, 51.3%
Obama: 8,718,638, 48.7%
PVI: R+3

ECOTOPIA (Dark Red, 78 EV)
Capital: San Francisco
Obama: 10,886,827, 60.8%
Romney: 7,005,518

Barring a Democratic landslide, Republicans should win 368-170.

Without doing the actual math it seems likely that Obama would have won everything except Greater Texas in 2008 and I wouldn't exactly call that election a landslide.
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« Reply #22 on: September 20, 2016, 05:48:04 PM »

I decided to try to create a Republican gerrymander for the country using real state lines and dividing us into 7 roughly even regions.  The smallest is New Texas, which carries 59 EV, but will probably grow, and the largest is The Great Northeast, with 92 EV, but which will likely decline in size.  The result is two solidly Democratic states and five Republican-leaning states.

NOTE: All percentages are calculated using two-party vote share only.

THE GREAT NORTHEAST (Light Red, 92 EV)Sad
Capital: New York City
Obama: 12,874,496, 62.2%
Romney: 7,822,035, 37.8%
PVI: D+10

THE SOUTH ATLANTIC (Dark Blue, 91 EV)Sad
Capital: Atlanta
Romney: 12,662,622, 51.7%
Obama: 11,823,431, 48.3%
PVI: R+4

THE OHIO VALLEY (Light Green, 73 EV)Sad
Capital: Cincinnati
Romney: 9,729,585, 52.4%
Obama: 8,849,219, 47.6%
PVI: R+4

THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY (Medium Green, 62 EV)Sad
Capital: St. Louis
Romney: 7,551,659, 50.9%
Obama: 7,273,077, 49.1%
PVI: R+3

GREATER TEXAS (Light Blue, 59 EV)Sad
Capital: Dallas
Romney: 7,002,199, 56.1%
Obama: 5,490,107, 43.9%
PVI: R+8
Adding any neighboring states would only make this state more Republican, and it's important to save them for other states.  It could do without Oklahoma as well, but I didn't want to make it any smaller.

LAKES, PLAINS, MOUNTAINS, AND DESERT (Dark Green, 81 EV)Sad
Capital: Boise
Romney: 9,179,582, 51.3%
Obama: 8,718,638, 48.7%
PVI: R+3

ECOTOPIA (Dark Red, 78 EV)
Capital: San Francisco
Obama: 10,886,827, 60.8%
Romney: 7,005,518

Barring a Democratic landslide, Republicans should win 368-170.

Without doing the actual math it seems likely that Obama would have won everything except Greater Texas in 2008 and I wouldn't exactly call that election a landslide.

I was thinking that McCain would have narrowly carried The Ohio Valley, but Obama won it by a razor-thin margin.  All six states in that are trending Republican relative to the nation as a whole, though, so a Republican would hold it today while losing by a McCain 2008 margin.  But, McCain actually does win the South Atlantic with 50.7% of the two-party vote.  It just trended a lot less relative to the nation as a whole between 2008 and 2012.  Obama probably picks up the other two comfortably in 2008 with his margin.

This gerrymander is incredibly effective until the Democratic victory margin passes about six points, and then it goes downhill really quickly.
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Del Tachi
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« Reply #23 on: September 21, 2016, 09:51:22 AM »


Democratic gerrymander?
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