US House Redistricting: Kentucky

[muon2]

This would be my neutral plan. No county is divided except Jefferson and the maximum deviation is 928 persons. Districts are compact and incumbents remain in their current districts.

[muon2]

Muon2, you chopped KY-06 to pieces, but your switch out of Dem Franklin County for that grab bag of Dem counties in the east left the partisan balance about the same - 54% McCain of the two party vote as compared to the 55% it is now. I would assume however, that they will just end up with the existing map, which requires only very minor changes. Why would they do otherwise?

My KY-6 may seem chopped up, but it preserves 62% of the population in the district. I also would justify the rest of that district based on using the I-64 corridor east of Lexington.

My goal was compactness and whole counties with a small enough deviation that it could be justified based on the stated goals. Of course, I too expect that reality would indeed keep the map similar to the present version. This is merely what I would do.

[muon2]

The Kentucky Supreme Court has struck down the legislative redistricting maps.

And here is the ruling itself, for those curious enough to read it.

If only they'd have used my methodology I've espoused on the CA wine country thread, they could have maximized subregions and guaranteed minimal splits while staying within the 5% limit.

[muon2]

Even with 6 CDs in 2020 there should be some shifts due to population loss or minimal change in much of the state. The growth is in the metro areas of the north and a pocket at Bowling Green. That should pull the large rural districts more to the north.

[muon2]

Here is KY with whole counties

That seems kind of yucky. Why the strips splitting the Cinci suburbs?

[muon2]

It still doesn't explain why the Tea Party's suit is more important than that of the ACLU.

A suit challenging the failure of the state to comply with their constitutional duty should not be dismissed. Consolidation of the suits is reasonable, and the county clerk's suit (Tea Party as you describe it) is directly to the need of the state to act. If the court doesn't consolidate then the focus should go to the suit that is most directly on point, and that's the one from the county clerk.