NY-01: Bishop Leads Seesawing Count by 16 Votes

It’s a battle of inches:

After Altschuler took the lead by some 15 votes as of mid-morning Monday, the total swung back in favor of Bishop by early afternoon. Altschuler’s campaign said, by its count, Bishop leads by just 16 votes.

The two are also battling over challenged absentee ballots, a fight which could end up in court before the end of the week.

Keep in mind, though, that Randy Altschuler has challenged at least 212 more ballots than Bishop has — and those votes aren’t yet reflected in the totals above.

UPDATES: Bishop now leads by 69 votes. (Hat-tip to some eagle-eyed Swingnuts in the comments!)

Prop 20’s Effects

I’m gonna try my best at communities of interest and all that jazz.  It actually doesn’t look too bad for Team Blue.

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We begin up North.  

1st District: Wally Herger R+6.  

Cities: Redding, Chico, Eureka.  Basically combines parts of the three districts which went up North into one mammoth district for Wally Herger.  The Democrat, even in a good year, probably couldn’t win because of the extremely liberal bases of Humboldt County and Chico, where a ton of primary votes would come from.

82 W

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2nd-green: Mike Thompson D+5  

Cities: Napa, Davis, Yuba City/Marysville

Combining the South halves of the 1st and 2nd, Thompson gets a reasonably safe district, with the liberal coast and college town Davis cancelling out the Valley.  66 W, 22 H

3rd-purple: Tom McClintock R+8

Cities: Roseville, Rocklin, South Lake Tahoe

Rooted in the Sacramento suburbs and extending into the Sierra, this district resembles much of the old 3rd in shape, but not territory.  McClintock is fine here.  84 W.

4th-red: Dan Lungren R+3

Cities: Citrus Hts, Folsom, Elk Grove

Sadly, without splitting Sacramento, you can’t make Lungren a goner, but he’s in danger nearly every election here.  However, a more moderate Republican, like Doug Ose, who used to represent the area, would be pretty safe.  72 W, 11 H

5th-yellow: Doris Matsui D+17

Cities: Sacramento

The district goes from Sacramento and takes in bits of two towns, West Sacramento and Woodland, that are in Yolo County. It doesn’t look pretty, but that’s because of large voting districts that a real redistricting could fix.  And Matsui?  She’s fine.  45 W, 21 H, 15 A, 13 B.

6th-teal: Lynn Woolsey D+23

Cities: Santa Rosa, Novato, Petaluma

Very little change here.

75 W, 15 H

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7th-pink: George Miller D+18

Cities: Richmond, Vallejo, Vacaville, Fairfiled

Following I-80 betweeen the  Bay Bridge and Sacramento, this district is safe for any Democrat. 43 W, 20 H, 17 B, 15 A

8th-purple: Nancy Pelosi D+33

Cities: San Francisco, Sausalito

Adding a bit of Marin County and shedding some of the city, this district’s only major change is it now has the entire Golden Gate Bridge!  47 W, 29 A, 13 H

9th-light blue: Barbara Lee D+36

Cities: Oakland, Berkeley, San Leandro, Alameda

A bit more compact, but essentially the same.  35 W, 25 B, 18 A, 18 H

10th-gray: Open–Mark DeSaulnier D+12

Cities: Concord, Antioch, Walnut Creek, Pittsburg

This is basically DeSaulnier’s if he wants it, he’s already representing most of it as a State Senator, and he clearly has higher ambitions, running in the primary last year for the open 10th.  67 W, 14 H, 10 A

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11th-green: John Garamendi D+5

Cities: Stockton, Modesto (half), Oakley

It’s ugly because I had to make it so that Hispanics could be a majority of the primary electorate, or so I’m hoping (with high turnout).  VRA makes everything gross.  Garamendi would probably choose to run in the 10th instead, challenging DeSaulnier again.  47 W, 29 H, 12 A

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12th-blue: Jackie Speier D+22

Cities: San Francisco (part), San Mateo

Hopefully our future Senator in 2018, when DiFi retires, Speier basically has the same district.  It’s tough to gerrymander a peninsula!  46 W, 27 A, 19 H.

13th-salmon: Pete Stark or Jerry McNerney D+15

Cities: Fremont (part), Hayward, Livermore, Tracy

McNerney’s finally safe.  Hopefully Pete Stark, an embarrassment to California, the Democratic Party, and the USA, retires.  For non-Californians, Tracy is bascially part of the Bay Area although it’s in a different county and in the Valley.  49 W, 21 H, 19 A

14th-olive: Anna Eshoo D+21

Cities: Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Redwood City, Palo Alto

I hate how my district always has such ugly colors, but it’s OK, cuz Eshoo’s still here!

53 W, 25 A, 16 H

15th-orange: Mike Honda D+14

Cities: San Jose (South), Gilroy, Campbell

Honda gets the more moderate South county, but it’s such a small percentage of the district it doesn’t matter.  53 W, 23 H, 18 A

16th-green: Zoe Lofgren D+19

Cities: San Jose (North), Fremont (part), Newark

This district is finally, a plurality-Asian district in California (the first ever, I believe). And I did it by accident!

34 A, 34 H, 25 W

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17th-purple: Sam Farr D+20

Cities: Santa Cruz, Salinas, Monterey

By far the most common-sense way to draw this district. Takes in ultra-liberal Santa Cruz (the place my liberal family makes fun of for being crazy liberal) and the Steinbeck Salad Bowl, as I call this area to the South of it.  53 W, 36 H.

19th-pink: Jim Costa vs. Dennis Cardoza D+5

Cities: Fresno (part), Merced

Another VRA district in the valley, this one majority, but much cleaner-looking than the previous incarnation. Would be an interesting primary. 54 H, 28 W.

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18th-yellow: Jeff Denham R+6

Cities: Modesto (part), Manteca, Turlock

The lone Democratic casualty on this map is Cardoza, although he probably would just run against Costa instead. A Central Valley/Sierra hybrid district, this is suited better for Denham, who lives on the border of the district.

60 W, 29 H

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20th-green: Open: Fmr St Rep. Mike Villines R+10

Cities: Fresno (part), Clovis, Madera

Villines, who’s been looking to move up to higher office, has a seat tailor-made for him here.

53 W, 35 H

21st-dark brown: Devin Nunes R+13

Cities: Visalia, Hanford, Tulare

A very conservative majority-minority district, due to high illegal immigrant populations and low Hispanic turnout among citizens.  Nunes is fine here.  46 W, 42 H.

22nd-lighter brown: Kevin McCarthy R+11

Cities: Bakersfield, Santa Clarita (part)

Rising star McCarthy gets some of LA County, but it’s the conservative Northern half, so he should be fine.  54 W, 33 H.

23rd-light blue: Lois Capps D+4

Cities: Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles

Capps may have to being campaigning again, but at least it won’t be a day’s drive from one end of the district to the other anymore.  This district is quite compact.  63 W, 28 H.

24th-purple: Elton Gallegly D+3

Cities: Ventura, Oxnard, Simi Valley

Basically the rest of Ventura County minus some of Thousand Oaks, Gallegly’s district just got shifted left enough that I’m guessing he retires.  The problem, of course, is we have absolutely no bench in Ventura County, so I guess we’ll see who turns up. 54 W, 35 H.

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25th-rose: Buck McKeon R+9

Cities: Lancaster, Palmdale, Victorville, Hesperia

While McKeon doesn’t actually live here, it’s a safe bet he’d run anyways rather than go against Brad Sherman.  I saw DrPhillips combine the Antelope Valley instead of attaching Lancaster/Palmdale to LA proper, and I like the idea.  As does Buck.  56 W, 28 H, 10 B.

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26th-olive: Open-St. Rep. Anthony Portantino D+11

Cities: Pasadena, Glendale

This district for former La Canada Flintridge Mayor Portantino.  Republicans don’t really have much of a chance here.  44 W, 24 H, 20 A.

27th-gray: Brad Sherman D+7

Cities: Los Angeles, Santa Clarita (part), Thousand Oaks (part)

By moving westward a bit, it becomes less Democratic than the state as a whole, but that’s blue enough for Sherman.  63 W, 21 H.

28th-bright green: Howard Berman D+19

Cities: Los Angeles

You knew those San Fernando Valley Hispanics Berman’s been dreading had to go somewhere, and with Prop. 20 passing, they’re in his district.  I still think he can win, however. Race-based challenges (see Herenton, Willie) are stupid and usually failures).  59 H, 24 W.

29th-pink: Adam Schiff D+20

Cities: Los Angeles, Burbank, Beverly Hills

Schiff’s district moves West, taking in a lot of Waxman’s and becoming even more blue in the process.  Think Schiff will leave the Blue Dogs? 64 W, 20 H.

30th-salmon: Henry Waxman D+28

Cities: Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Inglewood

Waxman’s district turns browner (a.k.a. more minorities), and I’m betting the next representative after him will be a member of one of those groups.  Until then, he’s safe.  42 W, 25 H, 17 B, 11 A.

31st-yellow: Xavier Becerra D+28

Cities: Los Angeles

Future speaker Becerra gets a similar, more compact district.  63 H, 16 A, 14 W.

32nd-orange: Judy Chu D+21

Cities: East Los Angeles, Pico Rivera, El Monte

Little change here, either, except for compactness.  Chu’s safe.  68 H, 22 A, 7 W.

33rd-blue: Lucille Roybal-Allard D+36

Cities: Los Angeles, Huntington Park

South Central gets a Hispanic representative.  That’s basically all the news here.  67 H, 20 B, just 3% white

34th-green: Karen Bass or Maxine Waters D+37

Cities: Los Angeles, Compton, Gardena

I really hope Waters retires.  Enough said. 49 H, 39 B, 4 W.  

35th-purple: Gary Miller or St. Rep. Ed Hernandez D+9

Cities: Whittier, West Covina, Diamond Bar

There’s no way a corrupt conservative survives here.  But that’s good for Hernandez, and California’s Hispanic representation, which now goes up by one.  55 H, 22 W, 18 A.

36th-orange: Jane Harman D+7

Cities: Torrance, Carson

Harman is actually a better fit for this district than her old one.  43 W, 30 H, 17 A.

37th-blue: Laura Richardson or Linda Sanchez D+13

Cities: Long Beach, Lakewood

My money’s on Sanchez.  And down goes a third corrupt incumbent.  Wow, Prop 20 is doing wonders.  37 H, 31 W, 16 A, 12 B.

38th-pale green: Grace Napolitano D+17

Cities: Downey, Norwalk, Lynwood

A generic backbencher, Napolitano is still safe.  70 H, 16 W.

39th-pale yellow: David Dreier or St. Rep. Norma Torres D+1

Cities: Chino, Pomona, Glendora

Surprisingly, Dreier could survive here.  I wouldn’t put it past him.  But his days are numbered either way due to age, and a Hispanic Democrat probably has the seat afterwards.  40 H, 39 W, 11 A

40th-maroon: Ed Royce R+8

Cities: Fullerton, Anaheim, Orange  

Bank-backer Royce will turn out OK here.  It actually gets more conservative.  48 W, 36 H, 11 A.

47th-gray: Loretta Sanchez D+4

Cities: Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Buena Park

Similar to the current district.  Sanchez will be in fights but probably survive every year.  55 H, 22 W, 18 A.

46th-orange: Dana Rohrabacher R+7

Cities: Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa, Westminster

Doesn’t change too much, either, but gets impenetrable again by shedding its portion of Long Beach.  60 W, 20 H, 16 A.

43rd-pink: Joe Baca D+8

Cities: Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Rialto

Noted asshole Joe Baca, sadly, still has a district in the Inland Empire.  I think he’ll be safe.  51 H, 31 W, 11 B.

44th-maroon?: Ken Calvert D+0

Cities: Riverside, Corona, Norco

Calvert gets a very compact district (no more O.C.) and Bill Hedrick gets a House seat, although he’ll be vulnerable every non-wave cycle in it.  46 W, 38 H.

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41st-gray: Jerry Lewis R+3

Cities: San Bernardino, Redlands, Yucaipa

Corrupt douche Lewis will have to be on his toes, but I think he’ll be fine with all the pork he brings back.  It’s a toss-up when open, though.  50 W, 32 H.

42nd-green: St. Sen Bill Emmerson R+2

Cities: Moreno Valley, Lake Elsinore, Hemet

Our lack of a bench here is killing us.  This would be competitive if there were an elected official in the district on our side.  But I think it’s Emmerson’s, although not for too many years.  50 W, 33 H.

45th-blue: Mary Bono Mack D+2

Cities: Palm Springs, Indio, El Centro

Mack can go live in Florida full-time now.  Steve Pougnet’s got this one.  51 H, 42 W.

48th-orange: John Campbell R+4

Cities: Irvine, Tustin, San Juan Capistrano

Campbell’s district is a decade away from toss-up territory, so he’s fine.  68 W, 14 H, 13 A.

49th-reddish: Darrell Issa R+10

Cities: Oceanside, Temecula, San Clemente

This district picks up everything that didn’t fit into communities of interest and gives it to ImpeachMeister Issa.  64 W, 23 H.

50th-pale blue: Brian Bilbray R+7

Cities: Carlsbad, Poway, Escondido

A sane California Republican, Bilbray gets a safe district as well.  Unlike Duncan Hunter…68 W, 20 H.

51st-brown: Susan Davis D+7

Cities: San Diego

Davis gets the North half of the city, same as before, but it looks nice now.  61 W, 15 H, 15 A.

52nd-white: Bob Filner D+11

Cities: San Diego, La Mesa, Lemon Grove

Filner might not quite live here, but it’s close, and there’s no doubt he’d rather run here.  40 W, 33 H, 12 B, 11 A.

53rd-greenish: Duncan Hunter R+3

Cities: Chula Vista, El Cajon, San Ysidro

All it takes is a normal map and Hunter is vulnerable.  However, I think he can still win it.  49 W, 35 H.

So there you go:

Incumbents gone:

Maxine Waters—primary

Laura Richardson—primary

Pete Stark—primary

Jim Costa—primary

Elton Gallegly—retiremnt, FLIP

Ken Calvert—FLIP

Gary Miller—FLIP

Mary Bono Mack—FLIP

Possibly also:

David Dreier—FLIP

Duncan Hunter—FLIP

Jerry Lewis—FLIP

Please comment!

SSP’s Competitive Senate Race Ratings (2012)

Likely D Lean D Tossup Lean R Likely R
MN (Klobuchar)

NJ (Menendez)

PA (Casey)

WA (Cantwell)
FL (Nelson)

MI (Stabenow)

ND (Conrad)

OH (Brown)

WV (Manchin)

WI (Kohl)
CT (Lieberman)

MA (Brown)

MO (McCaskill)

MT (Tester)

NV (Ensign)

VA (Webb)
NE (Nelson) AZ (Kyl)

Races to Watch:

     HI (Akaka)

     IN (Lugar)

     ME (Snowe)

     TN (Corker)

     TX (Hutchison)

     UT (Hatch)

NY-25: With Count Complete, Buerkle Has 576-vote Lead

Not unexpected, but miserable news nonetheless:

Republican Ann Marie Buerkle holds a 567-vote lead over U.S. Rep. Dan Maffei in the 25th Congressional District race after Wayne County election officials released their unofficial tally of absentee votes today.

Buerkle added 269 votes to her lead after getting 790 votes to Maffei’s 521 in the absentee vote tally in Wayne County. Elections officials in Wayne County completed the tally today and posted the results on their Web site [PDF].

With those votes in, the total unofficial vote count for the entire district stands at 104,374 for Buerkle and 103,807 for Maffei, who is seeking his second term in Congress.

Maffei can still ask for a hand recount of all ballots, and there are some other challenged ballots whose status has not been resolved yet. But unless something truly miraculous happens, this one is all but over. Truly a terrible loss, and one that few saw coming, but we can hope that Maffei stages a comeback some time soon.

Maryoming: A Plausible Redistricting for an Unlikely Eventuality

I like the idea of the Wyoming Rule. Take the population of the smallest state in the Union, divide the total U.S. population by it, and allocate however many seats that comes out to be according to each state’s population. Under the Wyoming Rule, Maryland would probably end up with 11 congressional districts at the next redistricting; assuming no population growth or decline, that puts each district’s population at roughly 481,500, although for this map, I’ve given each district a margin of about ±1,500, give or take a bit.

Spoiler alert: two of these districts are safe Republican, eight are safe Democratic, and one is a super-exciting swing district!

MD-01 (safe Republican)

85% white, 11% black

59% McCain, 39% Obama

This district covers most of the Eastern Shore, as well as rural, conservative northern Harford and Baltimore counties. It effectively soaks up big areas that Democrats don’t want. Rep.-elect Andy Harris could easily hold down this seat.

MD-02 (swing, lean Democrat)

75% white, 19% black

54% Obama, 44% McCain

This district covers the eastern Baltimore suburbs and exurbs, taking in portions of southern Harford and Baltimore counties, as well as some of the eastern reaches of Baltimore City and Anne Arundel County. It snakes awkwardly down the shoreline to capture the Democratic stronghold of Annapolis. If Rep. Frank Kratovil moved across the Bay, he could probably win this district without too much trouble.

MD-03 (safe Democratic)

40% white, 54% black

81% Obama, 17% McCain

This is a VRA district that goes straight down the middle of Baltimore City and includes some northern suburbs in Baltimore County. I’m not exactly sure where Rep. Elijah Cummings’s house is, but he could definitely win here. That would probably set up a primary showdown with Rep. John Sarbanes, though, unless he moved elsewhere.

MD-04 (safe Democratic)

46% white, 48% black

71% Obama, 28% McCain

It turns out that under the Wyoming Rule, the Baltimore area actually needs two VRA districts. This is actually a coalition district, technically, with black residents making up only 48% of the district’s population by 2000 numbers. It includes western Baltimore City while soaking up some of the western and northern Baltimore County suburbs and exurbs, none of which are numerous enough to really threaten Democrats here. As with MD-03, Rep. Cummings could win here easily. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberg, who I believe lives here, could win as well.

MD-05 (safe Democratic)

69% white, 12% black

61% Obama, 37% McCain

Incorporating some of central Maryland’s swingier rural areas in Howard, Montgomery, and Frederick counties with a few Democratic bastions like the cities of Frederick and Gaithersburg, this is a fairly solid Democratic district that is almost entirely within the D.C. media market. Jennifer Dougherty, who ran against Rep. Roscoe Bartlett in 2008 and used to be Frederick’s mayor, would probably win in a walk here.

MD-06 (safe Republican)

93% white, 4% black

62% McCain, 36% Obama

This district soaks up the Panhandle, Carroll County, and most of Frederick County. It’s a community of interest, and keeping it that way avoids some unpleasantness for surrounding Democrats. If Rep. Bartlett ran for reelection here, he’d be a lock to win.

MD-07 (safe Democratic)

70% white, 20% black

59% Obama, 39% McCain

This district includes eastern Howard County and western Anne Arundel County, as well as collecting some southern Baltimore County suburbs. It went for President Obama by 20 points, so I’m calling it safe, unless anybody objects. If Rep. Sarbanes moved down here from Towson, considering this MD-07 includes most of his current district anyway, I think he could win easily.

MD-08 (safe Democratic)

63% white, 28% black

63% Obama, 36% McCain

By balancing out Republican-leaning Anne Arundel County with parts of northern and eastern Prince George’s County, one of the country’s bluest, this district should be a walk for a competent Democrat. I don’t think any of Maryland’s current representatives are likely to run here, though.

MD-09 (safe Democratic)

64% white, 11% black

72% Obama, 27% McCain

This Montgomery County district is basically just a smaller version of Rep. Chris Van Hollen’s current district, MD-08. It eschews the tendril into Prince George’s County and cedes some space to surrounding districts, but it remains strongly Democratic. Van Hollen could win here without trouble, and I think he already lives within its boundaries.

MD-10 (safe Democratic)

17% white, 64% black

93% Obama, 7% McCain

This suburban district would be one of the most strongly Democratic districts in the country even under the Wyoming Rule, including most of the majority-black and -Latino parcels of land in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties. Rep. Donna Edwards would be a natural fit for this district.

MD-11 (safe Democratic)

60% white, 34% black

65% Obama, 34% McCain

This district of remainders stretches across the Chesapeake Bay to encompass Somerset and Worcester counties on the Eastern Shore as well as Charles, St. Mary’s, and Calvert counties in southern Maryland. It also stretches up into Prince George’s County to solidify its Democratic orientation. Rep. Steny Hoyer, soon to be the House minority whip, lives here and could win here without trouble.

Your thoughts, either on the map or the Wyoming Rule (or both)?

PA GOP Gerrymander

Depending on how you feel about Obama 48-49% districts, this could be a dummymander instead.  There’s really no good way I’ve seen to draw Eastern PA with less than 5 districts where Dems have a good chance of winning, and they only have 4 seats there now.  This has only 4 districts at more than Obama 53%, and one of them is Charlie Dent’s Lehigh Valley district, which he seems to be OK with.

The prospects for the GOP are much better in western PA; the Democrats have 3 seats, and I see no reason the map will give them more than 1 there.  There’s definitely an argument to draw two safe D seats rather than risk a dummymander, but I assume one of Critz/Altmire will be in real trouble in 2012.

I had a bit of trouble matching incumbents to districts; I paid no attention to where incumbents lived while drawing this.  In particular, the 6th through 9th districts are rather different than the current configuration.

The map:

Philadelphia: http://img842.imageshack.us/im…

CD1 (Bob Brady): Obama 86%, White 33%, Black 43%, Hispanic 18%

CD2 (Chaka Fattah): Obama 88%, White 32%, Black 57%

CD3 (Allyson Schwartz, was 13th): Obama 63%, White 80%

CD6 (Jim Gerlach [edit: apparently this is more like Pat Meehan’s district]): Obama 53%

Three of these districts are very safe D, the fourth is as Republican as I could make in this area.  The 6th and 7th get scrambled here; I’m not sure who would run in which district.

Southeast PA: http://img254.imageshack.us/im…

CD4 (Mike Fitzpatrick, was 8th): Obama 53% – Bucks County

CD5 (Charlie Dent): Obama 56% – Lehigh Valley

CD7 (Pat Meehan [edit: Jim Gerlach]): Obama 48% – Chester County, Lancaster

CD8 (Joe Pitts?): Obama 52% – Reading, Lebanon, Lancaster

CD9 (Tim Holden?): Obama 48% – New Castle, Harrisburg, York

Keeping Bucks County and the Lehigh Valley counties together minimizes the level of mayhem that can be done here.  Fitzpatrick should be in a slightly easier district, I’m not sure if Dent is though.  Joe Pitts certainly isn’t happy, though he might run in CD7 instead.  Tim Holden probably can survive in one of the R-leaning districts, though Harrisburg and Reading are now split.

The whole state (again): http://img231.imageshack.us/im…

CD10 (Tom Marino): Obama 51% – Northeast PA – gets a lot more of Scranton than before.  Tried to even the PVI with CD11.

CD11 (Lou Barletta): Obama 49% – Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Williamsport – Should be more friendly.

CD12 (Todd Platts): Obama 39% – Harrisburg, York – safe R district, nothing to see here.

CD13 (Bill Shuster): Obama 42 – Altoona, State College – safe R district, nothing to see here.

CD14 (Mark Critz?  GT Thompson?): Obama 49% – Johnstown, Erie – This district picks up half of Erie, and crawls through the T to Johnstown.  I assume Critz would run in the Johnstown district, but a lot of the Democrats would be new.  Also the closest thing to GT Thompson’s 5th; I’m sure he won’t be happy having a potentially-competitive district.

CD15 (Mike Kelly): Obama 44% – Erie, New Castle – this district loses about half of Erie, and gains more Republican areas.  Should be safe for Kelly.

Pittsburgh Area / SW PA: http://img718.imageshack.us/im…

CD16: Obama 44% – Indiana, Pittsburgh – I don’t see an obvious incumbent here, perhaps Critz or Altmire run.

CD17 (Mike Doyle): Obama 67%, White 73% – should be even safer D than it is now.

CD18 (Tim Murphy, Jason Altmire?): Obama 46% – Pittsburgh western suburbs – some Democratic areas in the district, but as a whole it’s unfriendly from a PVI view.  Altmire may end up running here, it’s friendlier than the 16th.

VA Redistricting

Many other people have posted their virginia maps, so here is mine. With split control of the state legislature, this is an incumbent protection map that locks in the 8R-3D split in the state delegation.

Northern Virginia



VA-08 (Purple)

This remains the most Democratic district in NoVA, and a safe district for Moran. It loses the areas south of Alexandria to the 11th, but picks up McLean, Herndon, and Sterling from the 10th. These areas were the most democratic parts of the 10th, so doing this shores up that district for the Republicans.

VA-11 (Bright Green)

(*full disclosure: I worked as a paid canvasser for the Connolly campaign in 2010, but that hasn’t biased the way I’ve drawn this map. Really. I no longer have any ties to Gerry Connolly or his campaign*)

This once-swing district has now become solidly Democratic, almost as much as the 8th to the north. Gerry Connolly is now safe, one of the few improvements for democrats under this map. It picks up the areas south of Alexandria from the 8th, loses western Prince William (the most Republican part of the district) to the 1st, and loses the most Republican parts of Fairfax County in Oakton, Burke, and West Springfield to the 10th. It now stands as an amalgamation of heavily Democratic Dale City, Woodbridge, and Occoquan in Prince William with the most democratic areas of Fairfax county south of Route 7 (roughly). Also interesting is that Keith Fimian’s home in Oakton is now in VA-10, so if he wants to run for congress again maybe he can try to teabag Frank Wolf.

VA-10 (Magenta)



This was the fastest growing district in Virginia by far, needing to shrink by about 110,000 people in it’s previous incarnation. Previously a slightly GOP-leaning swing district that voted for Obama in 08. Republican Frank Wolf has the district completely locked down due in large part to his ability to secure federal earmarks for projects like the Silver Line DC Metro extension in this area. But after Wolf retires, this district would have been extremely competitive and a fiscally moderate, socially liberal dem might even have been slightly favored here. This redistricting aims to prevent that. The district cedes areas like McLean and Herndon in Fairfax Co that leaned to the Dems to the 8th. It now only has tentacles that reach into Fairfax and eat up basically all the Republican precincts there in areas like Great Falls, Burke, and Oakton. It also gives up the slightly D-leaning swing region of Manassas to the 1st district, and picks up some Appalachian counties from the 6th. I  still haven’t made this district totally republican, as that is almost impossible. It is competitive in the case of a Wolf retirement, but definitely less than before and the Republican running to succeed wolf would have an advantage. And in 6 or 8 years it’s easy to see this district returning to swing status, as the population growth in Loudon County is making it more and more democratic.

Eastern/Central VA



VA-01 (Blue)

This district was Republican leaning in its previous incarnation, however the fact that it is growing more democratic as the population shifts from the shrinking southern areas around Hampton Roads and Williamsburg to the DC exurbs makes it possible that when Wittman retires the old incarnation of this district could go dem. The new incarnation is not that much more Republican, if at all, owing to the need to shore up the 2nd and the 10th. It loses Fredricksburg, previously one of the most democratic parts of the district, to Eric Cantor’s 7th district. It gains the Manassas area from the 10th, and some of western Prince William from the 11th. The 2nd took up some extremely red areas in the Poqouson and York County areas. Overall the shift is maybe a point or two in the GOP’s favor.

VA-02 (Dark Green)



This district was about two points more Democratic than the 1st to the north, allowing Glenn Nye to win in 08. Republicans will want to prevent that from ever happening again, and this map accomplishes that. This district has taken on the City of Poqouson and much of York County, which it needed due to population loss in the Hampton Roads area. These new areas voted 75% for McCain and 80% (!!) for McDonnell. So this definitely means Scott Rigell has a safe seat barring some kind of total implosion.

VA-03 (Dark Purple)

Very little change here. Still safe blue. Due to population loss had to take on the heavily democratic area of Mechanicsville outside of Richmond.

VA-04 (Red)



Very little change here, too. Had to shrink a tiny bit due to population growth, so I gave the town of Emporia to the 5th which needed more population due to the total facelift I gave it plus the fact that the entire SW area of virginia had been losing population. Still a solid red district.

VA-07 (Grey)



This district has gotten a lot more compact now, but it has stayed solidly republican. The area that previously stretched north into the rural areas has been taken out and given to the 5th district. In exchange, the district has gained Fredricksburg from the 1st. And, as previously mentioned, the heavily blue area of Mechanicsville has been given to the 3rd. Overall, the district hasn’t really changed much in terms of partisanship, but it looks much better, IMO.

Western Virginia

VA-06 (Teal)



This solidly republican district has shed a bit of it’s redness in the interest of helping shore up Hurt in VA-05. It has taken on the liberal Charlottesville area and ceded the Lynchburg area. This district has probably become significantly more democratic, although it is still very republican. Goodlatte won by 62% in 2008 and had no major-party opponent in 2010, so he should be safe, but a blue dog might be able to win this seat under open-seat conditions in a good year for dems. Tom Perriello would have a good chance at this seat if it were open, although I personally hope he is senator/governor by then.

VA-05 (Yellow)



This is probably the most changed district in this map. It has lost Charlottesville, previously the most liberal area of the district and home of its soon-to-be-former congressman Tom Perriello. In exchange, it has gained the northernmost part of the 7th, the tiny town of emporia from the 4th, and the city of lynchburg from the 6th. This gave it a little too much population, so I gave some of the westernmost part of the district to VA-09 to compensate for the 9th’s population loss. I may have gone overkill on this district. It was previously a republican leaning district, now it is an extremely safe district that even a blue dog in an open seat in a democratic wave year would have a lot of trouble winning.

VA-09 (Cyan)



Not much has changed here. This was a safe republican district before, and Rick Boucher held out largely due to his personal popularity, so Morgan Griffith doesn’t need much shoring up. The district has been losing population faster than any other district in VA, so it had to take on some areas from the 5th, but these don’t change the basic shape or the partisanship of the district at all.

This map should hold it’s 8-3 partisan composition for the forseeable future. The only thing that could change that is a Frank Wolf retirement, but the 10th is designed pretty much as best as possible to hold in that case. With Loudon county trending Democratic, though, this district should be a top democratic target in 6-8 years. This map has delayed the 10th’s transition to a Democratic target by a few years at least, though.

Some people (including myself) have raised the possibility that Republicans could simply do a mid-decade redistricting once they pick up the state senate in next year’s elections (which I and many other people on here believe is more than likely than not). However, what doing this map has taught me is that it is pretty close to impossible for Republicans to get a better than 8-3 split in congress. The only way for them to do better is to weaken the 10th significantly (and make the 11th more Republican leaning). Wolf could probably hold on in this kind of scenario, but in my view that would make it far too easy for the Democrats to pick up this area once Wolf retires (he is 71 so that may not be long). If they weaken the 10th too much, the Dems could even maybe knock off Wolf in a few years. So there’s not much potential benefit to the Republicans in a mid decade redistricting. An 8-3 split (that could become 7-4 at worst) is pretty damn good for them in a very purple state like VA.

 

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VA Redistricting

So I know many others have taken this on, but here is my take on how to redistrict virginia. With the governor and the House of Delegates under republican control and the state senate in Dem hands, it is clear now that the new map will be an incumbent protection map that locks in the 8-3 R-D split in the states delegation. Here’s a map that could do just that:

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Northern Virginia:

Daves Redistricting 2.0.1

A quick diary here to say I uploaded Version 2.0.1. It will show all the districts all the time now, fixing one of your main issues. It’s faster zooming, even with all the districts, but still not as perky as 1.0. On my laptop it does seem that panning is a bit slow for the large states, like NY, TX or PA, but acceptable. It is nice to always see all of the districts.

I’ll be checking the diary tomorrow (Sat) and periodically next week, but won’t be working on the app until after Thanksgiving.

Please keep the feedback coming. Thanks.

Link to previous diary announcing DR 2.0.