So, with the caveat that I don’t really believe that neutral redistricting is possible, I’ve redistricted my own state of Pennsylvania as I think it might appear if the legislature deadlocks and a Federal district court has to appoint a special master to draw the lines. There are 18k “missing” people in this map, which I assume is a software bug in Dave’s app. Anyway, without further ado. . .
Delaware Valley:
Philly:
Eastern PA:
Central PA:
Western PA:
Pittsburgh:
I think maps like these are “fair” only to the extent that they “look good.”
FWIW, I don’t think this is too unrealistic, though it costs Philly a black majority district. But a court can draw such a map. . .
I would advocate getting rid of the Murtha district because he’s corrupt and Western PA is losing the most population. The liberal parts of the Murtha district can be given to Altmire to make him safer.
Your map will probably make it more difficult for Dahlkepmer (3) and Altmire (4) to get reelected. I would support some incumbent protection for our newly-elected Dems in Western PA.
Are you gunning for competitive districts, like say Washington state’s redistricting, incumbent protection, like New Jersey inevitably turns into, or communities of interest, like Arizona? Because I kinda see shades of all three going on (maybe you were taking all three ideals into consideration?).
Though I don’t have the political data, I think my 9th is easily the most Republican district in the northeast.
Western Pa is a mess. Tim Murphy would probably not be able to win the new 18th district and Murtha gets a much more difficult 12th district. Murphy should get all of conservative Westmoreland county, and Murtha should get Greene and Washington counties.
Use the “next Unassigned” button. Some of the census blocks are very small and easy to miss when you’re painting a large swath.
Does anyone know how you can post one of the maps to a diary?
How did you decide which Philly precincts to put in that district? It isn’t just that they were the closest for squaring off the district, is it?
But why hasn’t anyone thought of weakening Murphy instead. It’s already only CPVI R+6 (maybe before Obama numbers, not sure) and could take some from Doyle’s district. If Murtha needs more people, he can grab the rest of Indiana County and nearby more moderate areas. We’d likely lose the district without him, but that’s true in it’s current configuration anyway.
A pretty good job, I’d say.
I do have a question regarding Dave’s Redistricting App: If I save my map, where on the computer can I find it?
I’ve made a map for Ohio that, hopefully solidifies the gains we’ve made, but I can’t find it.
BTW, I had about 13K people missing. Most of my districts were over/under by 500 or fewer people. One was only short 1 person. Most of the missing came from Kucinich’s district. Problem was that I had already designed everyone else’s district, and correcting his would have screwed me up completely.