Dave's Redistricting App

[Bacon King]

The MA map currently looks as awful as it does as an attempt to make sure no Republicans under any circumstances would win any seat.

[Brittain33]

The MA map currently looks as awful as it does as an attempt to make sure no Republicans under any circumstances would win any seat.

No, that's not true. It's about incumbent protection with crazy combinations resulting from seats lost to other states. It's quite close to the map drawn in the 1990s with the contribution of Gov. Weld who wanted the 5th to be Republican accessible.

[muon2]

The MA map currently looks as awful as it does as an attempt to make sure no Republicans under any circumstances would win any seat.

No, that's not true. It's about incumbent protection with crazy combinations resulting from seats lost to other states. It's quite close to the map drawn in the 1990s with the contribution of Gov. Weld who wanted the 5th to be Republican accessible.

It's complicated by the fact that 6 of the 10 reps live in Boston and its nearby suburbs. To provide for the incumbents requires districts that spoke out from Boston. But they don't call it the Hub for nothing.

[Brittain33]

It's complicated by the fact that 6 of the 10 reps live in Boston and its nearby suburbs. To provide for the incumbents requires districts that spoke out from Boston. But they don't call it the Hub for nothing.

I wouldn't consider Salem to be a suburb of Boston, but yes, this is the biggest scandal of the map. Framingham, New Bedford, Nantucket, and Taunton all having reps living within 10 miles of downtown Boston is ridiculous.

[Skill and Chance]

So here's a puzzle.  What would a legal Dem gerrymander of CT look like?  Could you make all 5 districts ~D+5 without splitting towns?  Could you do 4 ~D+8-10 districts and one district that is as Republican as possible?

[muon2]

It's complicated by the fact that 6 of the 10 reps live in Boston and its nearby suburbs. To provide for the incumbents requires districts that spoke out from Boston. But they don't call it the Hub for nothing.

I wouldn't consider Salem to be a suburb of Boston, but yes, this is the biggest scandal of the map. Framingham, New Bedford, Nantucket, and Taunton all having reps living within 10 miles of downtown Boston is ridiculous.

We agree on the map, but I'll respectfully disagree about Salem. It's very much a part of the the north suburbs of Boston.

[Brittain33]

It's complicated by the fact that 6 of the 10 reps live in Boston and its nearby suburbs. To provide for the incumbents requires districts that spoke out from Boston. But they don't call it the Hub for nothing.

I wouldn't consider Salem to be a suburb of Boston, but yes, this is the biggest scandal of the map. Framingham, New Bedford, Nantucket, and Taunton all having reps living within 10 miles of downtown Boston is ridiculous.

We agree on the map, but I'll respectfully disagree about Salem. It's very much a part of the the north suburbs of Boston.

Perhaps not a nearby suburb like Malden or Quincy. Let me phrase it this way: It's reasonable for an Essex-based district to include Salem and be shaped the way it is, and for the rep to be from Salem. It's not really comparable to districts that start in Boston and reach out in all directions.

[CatoMinor]

LA with 3 black majority districts.

[muon2]

Just finished Nebraska with new census numbers. Pretty proud of myself for finding every precinct and getting the three districts within 100 people of each other, as well as only one split county.



Note: I couldn't fit it all on, but just in case you didn't know, everything missing on the left is in CD-03.

Did you try splitting no counties? If so how close could you get? I'm always curious as to how well the IA model would work in other states.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Not really possible because of the Omaha area.

[Dgov]

Just finished Nebraska with new census numbers. Pretty proud of myself for finding every precinct and getting the three districts within 100 people of each other, as well as only one split county.



Note: I couldn't fit it all on, but just in case you didn't know, everything missing on the left is in CD-03.

Did you try splitting no counties? If so how close could you get? I'm always curious as to how well the IA model would work in other states.

It works surprisingly well in some states where you wouldn't expect it, Like Tennessee (assuming an exception is made for the Shelby county by putting all of Memphis in one district).

[muon2]

Just finished Nebraska with new census numbers. Pretty proud of myself for finding every precinct and getting the three districts within 100 people of each other, as well as only one split county.



Note: I couldn't fit it all on, but just in case you didn't know, everything missing on the left is in CD-03.

Did you try splitting no counties? If so how close could you get? I'm always curious as to how well the IA model would work in other states.

It works surprisingly well in some states where you wouldn't expect it, Like Tennessee (assuming an exception is made for the Shelby county by putting all of Memphis in one district).

Aren't the counties around Nashville too populous to get a district of 100 persons deviation without splits?

[Dgov]

Just finished Nebraska with new census numbers. Pretty proud of myself for finding every precinct and getting the three districts within 100 people of each other, as well as only one split county.



Note: I couldn't fit it all on, but just in case you didn't know, everything missing on the left is in CD-03.

Did you try splitting no counties? If so how close could you get? I'm always curious as to how well the IA model would work in other states.

It works surprisingly well in some states where you wouldn't expect it, Like Tennessee (assuming an exception is made for the Shelby county by putting all of Memphis in one district).

Aren't the counties around Nashville too populous to get a district of 100 persons deviation without splits?

I Said "Suprisingly well" not perfect.  You can get within like 20k, which is great considering that all those counties have like 200,000 people in them

[muon2]

Just finished Nebraska with new census numbers. Pretty proud of myself for finding every precinct and getting the three districts within 100 people of each other, as well as only one split county.



Note: I couldn't fit it all on, but just in case you didn't know, everything missing on the left is in CD-03.

Did you try splitting no counties? If so how close could you get? I'm always curious as to how well the IA model would work in other states.

It works surprisingly well in some states where you wouldn't expect it, Like Tennessee (assuming an exception is made for the Shelby county by putting all of Memphis in one district).

Aren't the counties around Nashville too populous to get a district of 100 persons deviation without splits?

I Said "Suprisingly well" not perfect.  You can get within like 20k, which is great considering that all those counties have like 200,000 people in them

Unfortunately 20K won't survive a court challenge. For the IA system to work, there has to be enough small jurisdictions (like counties in IA) that districts can be constructed by an independent body using simple rules. Those districts have to come out very close to equal for the court to determine that the state's interest in preserving its districting rules justify the deviations from exact equality. If the rules allow splits in general, then the court will determine that exact equality should be achieved by splitting to the extent needed.

[Nichlemn]

LA with 3 black majority districts.

Wow, this is probably the most convoluted gerrymander I have ever seen.

[Vepres]

Two black majority districts in Alabama (blue and green):

[JohnnyLongtorso]

With the midterm result in, here's an idea for a bipartisan incumbent protection map of Virginia:



Click for huge.

VA-01 (Rob Wittman - R) - Hasn't changed a whole lot; takes in some more of Prince William, loses part of Stafford/Spotsylvania, and adds the two Eastern Shore counties (they were in VA-01 prior to the 2000 map).
VA-02 (Scott Rigell - R) - Snakes up the shore to take in some Republican territory (Poquoson, parts of York and Gloucester), picks up the VA-01 bit of Hampton, and loses the Eastern Shore. Should move the needle to the Republicans by a couple points.
VA-03 (Bobby Scott - D) - Takes Petersburg out of VA-04, mostly unchanged. 62% black.
VA-04 (Randy Forbes - R) - Also not changed a whole lot, aside from losing Petersburg, which should flip the district to McCain.
VA-05 (Robert Hurt - R) - Removes Charlottesville and most of Albemarle, adds the rest of Bedford, Lynchburg, and Amherst. Should be no trouble at all for the Republicans to hold now.
VA-06 (Bob Goodlatte - R) - Snakes up from Roanoke, where Goodlatte lives, through the Shenandoah Valley, and pulls in Charlottesville and Albemarle and some outer NoVa counties. Shouldn't endanger Goodlatte.
VA-07 (Eric Cantor - R) - Actually a little less ridiculous now, it's a solidly-Republican suburban Richmond/Fredericksburg area district. Still should be solidly Republican.
VA-08 (Jim Moran - D) - Remains solidly Dem; continues to hold the trifecta of Alexandria, Arlington, and Falls Church, but goes west instead of south. Maybe a couple points less Democratic, but still a safe D district.
VA-09 (Morgan Griffith - R) - Not much changed here; added Salem, Martinsville, and some more of Roanoke County. Safe R.
VA-10 (Frank Wolf - R) - Added almost all of Shenandoah County, and removes some parts of Fairfax. Retains the most Republican parts of Fairfax. Safe for Wolf, should lean Republican in an open seat, unless it's a particularly good Dem year.
VA-11 (Gerry Connolly - D) - Replaces the Republican PW County parts with the solidly-Dem SE PW County. Should be a pretty safe Dem seat.

[Torie]

I am getting a registry error when I try to open the redistricting application today. Is anyone else having that problem?

[Verily]

I am, too.

[Torie]

I am, too.

OK. That is good news, that it is not my computer. I am a long way from IT help right now!  

CC:  Muon2

[muon2]

I am, too.

OK. That is good news, that it is not my computer. I am a long way from IT help right now!  

CC:  Muon2

I've used it this evening without any difficulty. However, about a week ago it started hanging my Firefox. Since then I've been using IE with the App.

[Verily]

It started working again this evening for me.

[CatoMinor]

Here is a map with IA losing a district. Drawn without thinking of parties, but after looking at it I think IA-04 would be solidly GOP, IA-02 solidly Dem, and the 1st & 3rd being battle ground districts.

[Sbane]

Remember the district already contains southern Jefferson County and the most densely populated part of Douglas, Tom Tancredo territory. It can easily absorb and handle that now, but something 50/50 like Greeley might leave it a bit too open.

Not really. Try this (CO-01 is majority Hispanic):

Did you draw this map with the new population estimates? I had the basic Hispanic district as yours, and I adjusted the precincts a bit based on your map, but I still came up short. And not 48 or 49%, but 46%.

[JohnnyLongtorso]

I've been playing around with making "nonpartisan" maps. My general standards are that the districts should be relatively compact without dividing up counties/cities, and partisanship isn't taken into consideration. I do preserve existing VRA districts, though.

Here's one for Georgia (14 districts):



The green, purple, and blue districts in the Atlanta area are all 51% black. It would probably maintain the status quo; four of the five current Dems have pretty much the same maps, and Barrow would likely run in the light green district, which is 39% black. The teal Gwinnett County district might be interesting in a decade or so; according to the app it's only 48% white, but of course, the suburbs are still pretty solidly Republican for now.

And here's one for Michigan (also 14 districts):



The two majority-black seats retain their majorities. Democrats would easily win those, the red Oakland, purple Wayne/Oakland, and gray Flint/Saginaw districts. The yellow Macomb district, green Lansing-area district, teal Washtenaw, and possibly even the light blue midstate district would be swing districts. Republicans wouldn't have much trouble holding the remaining five districts.