With so much talk of splitting California up into different states, I decided to give it a stab with Dave’s redistricting app. I decided to keep counties whole for simplicity. I also did very rough calculations for the House seats.
NorCal Urbana
The North Coast is an overwhelmingly Democratic powerhouse, and if it were a separate state, it would be the most Democratic in the country. And fortunately for Democrats, this part of California is very populous, almost as big as New York City. That is enough to give the area 11 very reliably Democratic seats.
Population: 7,938,731
Demographics: 51% White, 21% Hispanic, 17% Asian, 6% Black, 5% Other
2008 Vote: Obama 73%, McCain 25%, Other 2%
Capital: San Francisco
Other Major Cities: San Jose, Oakland, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, Arcata
Congressional Seats: 11
New Montana
At 51,687 square miles, New Montana is bigger than the eight smallest states combined (Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont). But that’s it for “big” here. The population is not big (for California standards, anyway), barely beating Rhode Island, nor is the diversity, allowing this region to be the only Republican of the 5 “Californias”.
Population: 1,146,333
Demographics: 83% White, 9% Hispanic, 8% Other
2008 Vote: McCain 54%, Obama 44%, Other 2%
Capital: Redding
Other Major Cities: South Lake Tahoe
Congressional Seats: 2
Central Valley
The nation’s fruit/veggie/nut basket varies politically, with Democratic centers in Sacramento and Fresno, and Republican strongholds in Bakersfield and the rural regions. The former was big enough to put Obama over the top here.
Population: 4,794,704
Demographics: 50% White, 33% Hispanic, 7% Asian, 6% Black, 4% Other
2008 Vote: Obama 51%, McCain 46%, Other 2%
Capital: Sacramento
Other Major Cities: Stockton, Modesto, Fresno, Bakersfield
Congressional Seats: 7
SoCal Desert
The SoCal Desert is also big in area and has slightly fewer people than L.A. Despite being very sparsely populated, the desert region is much more Hispanic and moderate, giving Obama a narrow win.
Population: 3,393,184
Demographics: 46% White, 39% Hispanic, 7% Black, 4% Asian, 4% Other
2008 Vote: Obama 51%, McCain 47%, Other 2%
Capital: San Bernardino
Other Major Cities: Calexico, Palm Springs, Riverside
Congressional Districts: 5
SoCal Urbana
Our journey ends at the SoCal megalopolis. Once a Republican stronghold, Republicans of yore counted on large margins in Orange (especially) and San Diego Counties, and narrow Dem margins or outright Republican wins in Los Angeles County to win the state and the presidency. Now, with increasing diversity and Obama having won this area at the same percentage that he won statewide, SoCal Urbana is about to become like NorCal Urbana, and eventually we will see a big beautiful strip along the California coast, as blue as the Pacific Ocean, along with some very boffo popular vote numbers for the Democrats. Hard to believe that Obama’s margin in California alone, 3 million, alone contributed to 30% of his 10 million margin nationwide.
Population: 16,608,696
Demographics: 41% White, 38% Hispanic, 11% Asian, 7% Black, 3% Other
2008 Vote: Obama 61%, McCain 37%, Others 2%
Capital: Los Angeles
Other Major Cities: San Diego, Long Beach, Santa Ana, Ventura, Santa Barbara
Congressional Districts: 21
would become the most Democratic state in the country.
Next, we’ll be drawing districts that cross state boundaries (something I’m actually in favor of).
The folks who are trying to make a state out of far N.Cal and S.Oregon…