| Pennsylvania
Needless to say, this is truly a state of contrasts, from the upwardly mobile, newly liberal-leaning Philadelphia suburbs to the numerically shrinking, increasingly Republican towns of western Pennsylvania. In the vast "T" between Pittsburgh and Philly lies some of the most conservative and rural territory in the entire old North, along with a Democratic island in the Penn State campus and its environs.
What will redistricting see in Pennsylvania? Hard to say. The least likely option is a Democratic gerrymander, thanks to a healthy 30-20 GOP majority in the State Senate. Republicans have an outside shot at a redux gerrymander thanks to the open governor's mansion and narrow 104-99 Dem edge in the House. My money is on a continued power split, since it is tough (though quite far from unheard of) for a party to pick up both the governor's mansion and a legislative chamber in one cycle in a competitive state. I drew my hypothetical Pennsylvania map (again, using 2007 stats) with according assumptions.
Split partisan power in redistricting usually means all-around incumbent protection, which particularly helps the Democrats and their weaker seats (the 10th, 3rd, 12th, 11th, et al.), but also the Republicans in at least two cases (the 15th and 6th). There is, of course, a wrinkle: Pennsylvania will be losing at least one seat in reapportionment; possibly two, but one seems more likely unless North-to-South migration really picks up in the next year. With much of the state's worst population loss occurring in the west, and with Western Pennsylvania Democrats a bit overrepresented at the congressional level (at least considering trends in the region), it seemed likely that a relatively new Democrat would be eliminated, or at least put in a tough spot against an incumbent Republican. John Murtha's seniority means his is likely not to be the unlucky musical chair, unless he's finally ready to retire in 2012 at age 80. That's a possibility, but I drew the map to combine Republican Tim Murphy and Democrat Jason Altmire in a competitive (but doubtlessly McCain-supporting) western district. Meanwhile, Murtha and Erie's Kathy Dahlkemper are both strengthened. Of course, this assumes that Murtha, Dahlkemper, Altmire, and Murphy are all reelected in 2010, and all four have at one time or another been targeted recently.
One oddity in the west as a result of the eliminated district? Bill Shuster's 9th moved all the way into former Murtha country, though it kept Shuster's home in-district. (Yeah, doesn't make much sense, but with the 12th trending GOP, and Murtha getting quite up there in years, you can bet Democrats will try to salvage all their strength in the Pittsburgh area). In the east, I did my best to shore up Chris Carney, whose district is darned difficult to gerrymander for a Dem, as well as 2008 underperformer Paul Kanjorski and Charlie Dent, whose 15th District tilts Democratic in its current form. I also attempted to make the Philadelphia-area districts more compact and logical, which may have been a case of my quixotic reformer instincts overreaching.
Now, every map has at least one Achilles heel, and mine is Tim Holden's 17th District. I simply could not figure out how to make it Dem-leaning without some seriously ugly and disruptive lines. In fact, it got more Republican in this map...not my intention, I assure you. Also, Shuster's district moving west meant that Platts and Pitts would see some major turf changes.
This isn't my best map (I'm much happier with Texas and Ohio), but perhaps it isn't the travesty Louisiana and Massachusetts were. I aimed to lessen Pennsylvania's "emaciated serpent" factor while protecting potentially vulnerable newbies. Without a doubt, a state legislator with real redistricting software (rather than a calculator, Census estimates on Excel, and Paint) could draw something more effective and precise. But you can judge for yourself:
District 1 - Bob Brady (D-Philadelphia) -- still ethnically mixed and heavily Democratic, the home of Rocky Balboa. (Cue Bill Conti and his horn section.)
District 2 - Chaka Fattah (D-Philadelphia) -- the only VRA district in the state, still majority-black.
District 3 - Kathy Dahlkemper (D-Erie) -- barely voted for McCain as-is, so I aimed to maximize the influence of Dem-friendly Erie County and competitive Mercer County. I also divided Butler County to further minimize GOP strength. This district would have voted for Obama by an inch, no more than 51-48 or 52-47, but I think that's the best I could do.
District 4 - Jason Altmire (D-McCandless) vs. Tim Murphy (R-Upper St. Clair) -- both incumbents live in suburban Allegheny County, so the district includes a healthy 25% of that county along with the remaining 65% of Butler and all of Beaver and Lawrence. It's nice and compact, and pretty competitive -- my guesstimate is the numbers will actually be more Democratic than the McCain 55-44 stat seen in both Congresscritters' current districts, which could bode well for Altmire.
District 5 - Glenn Thompson (R-Howard) -- super-Republican "T" district, including one Obama base: Centre County and its many Penn State students. Why are these public university towns (State College, PA; Gainesville, FL; Athens, GA) always situated in a sea of red?
District 6 - Jim Gerlach (R-Chester Springs) -- I simplified the lines to include 69% of Berks and 85% of Chester Counties, two of the more swingy counties in the Philly suburbs (compared to Delaware and Montgomery, each 60-39 for Obama). Gerlach would have a slightly more favorable seat here, but there is a huge caveat: he is exploring a 2010 run for Governor, which could be bad for our chances of holding the governor's mansion but is probably good for our chances of picking up PA-06.
District 7 - Joe Sestak (D-Edgmont) -- all of Delaware and 18% of Montgomery = a strong (and compact) Dem seat.
District 8 - Patrick Murphy (D-Bristol) -- all of Bucks plus remainders of Berks and Montgomery; the vote here should be similar to my proposed 6th (about 54-45 for Obama), and if I'd wanted to gerrymander a bit, I could have made it more solid.
District 9 - Bill Shuster (R-Hollidaysburg) -- now essentially a Western PA district! Not my slickest map-making, but I was worried about holding the 12th in future election cycles.
District 10 - Chris Carney (D-Dimock) -- this was fairly well-done, OTOH, though I couldn't be too aggressive for fear of weakening Kanjorski; I included 96% of Luzerne County and 28% of Lackawanna, while cutting out GOP-leaning (but Dem-trending) Pike; a 54-45 McCain district would hopefully be a lot closer to even now.
District 11 - Paul Kanjorski (D-Nanticoke) -- I don't know if Nanticoke would be in the 10th under these lines, so ignore them because the 4% of Luzerne left in the 11th would ideally include Kanjorski's house. Other than Pike, every county in this district voted for Obama, and the expansion into Northampton County is intended to replace lost turf in Luzerne County. The district might technically be a hair less Obama-supporting than before, but there is a serious silver lining here for the incumbent: Lou Barletta's Hazleton is no longer included.
District 12 - John Murtha (D-Johnstown) -- this being the only district in America to switch from Kerry '04 to McCain '08 set off an alarm in my head; coupled with frequent controversy about Murtha himself, it was enough to prompt my version's radical changes to the old lines. While the 65% of Westmoreland County doesn't help, I've included all of Murtha's native Cambria County along with competitive Indiana County and (this is key) 18% of Allegheny.
District 13 - Allyson Schwartz (D-Jenkintown) -- 80% of Montgomery and the remaining 5% of Philadelphia for a compact, logical, and safe Dem seat.
District 14 - Mike Doyle (D-Forest Hills) -- entirely within Allegheny County.
District 15 - Charlie Dent (R-Allentown) -- yes, it's heavy in Democratic Lehigh County, but retains just 18% each of Dem-leaning Northampton and Berks, now including all of heavily GOP Lebanon and even 20% of GOP-friendly Lancaster. This might still have voted for Obama, but by a heck of a lot less than 56-43.
District 16 - Joe Pitts (R-Kennett Square) -- stretches along the south from Adams to Chester Counties, but ruled by Lancaster County, of which it comprises 80%.
District 17 - Tim Holden (D-Saint Clair) -- this is my biggest disappointment. It was drawn in 2002 for George Gekas to defeat Holden, and somehow I managed to make it more Republican than before, when it should have been easy to push into the Dem column through mild adjustments. Holden can win this district as I've drawn it, but when he retires, all bets would be off. There must be a way to grab some Philly suburbs for the 17th without drawing the lines too revoltingly.
District 18 - Todd Platts (R-York) -- okay, so it's a lot less compact and a lot more Shuster-ish. But it's still dominated by his York County base and still safely Republican (more so, actually).
Mapping the Keystone State, and still failing in some of my goals, was migraine-inducing, so you can imagine how relieving it is to be switching gears here for a state with just four districts, a state like...
Utah
This was a cinch to draw, since the legislature already green-lighted (green-lit?) a plan called Plan L back in late 2006 when Utah pols hoped for lame-duck congressional approval of the D.C. House Voting Rights Act. Now, whether that bill will eventually become law is still up in the air given tensions over the poison pill gun issue, but regardless of the immediate outcome, Utah will get a fourth district in reapportionment, and the state is overdue for an urban Salt Lake seat in the next decade. The current map includes three districts that combine cities/suburbs along the populous Wasatch Front with isolated small towns and desolate rural areas. That was done to hurt Jim Matheson; but GOP lawmakers, who can genuinely approve any map they want to in this heavily Republican state, appear likely to give Matheson the most Democratic district possible in order to ensure hard-right GOP hegemony in the other three districts.
Why would they do this? Well, Salt Lake County is trending Democratic, even voting for Obama in 2008 after going to Bush by 20 points in 2004. A new urban district is likely to be concentrated around Salt Lake City, and should the popular Matheson run in a rural district, there would actually be a good chance of two Democrats in a four-member Utah delegation! Thus, the best solution for Republicans is to put Matheson in the urban seat and carve themselves deep red rural turf.
My 2nd District, designed for Matheson, concentrates just about all the Democratic areas in Utah other than Moab, and creates a new 4th along the western portion of the state that would favor a Republican from Salt Lake, or (if the Salt Lake vote was split) someone from the fast-growing St. George area who commanded rural support. (Trivia for those who haven't been: most of the state is indeed known for its high elevations, dramatic snow-capped mountains, and pristine skiing, but St. George actually has palm trees and relatively hot, humid summer temperatures ideal for growing cotton! Weird, I know.)
Here's the Utah map, probably one of the least controversial I've drawn (and again, though I'm using 2007 estimates and not 2000 Census data, the legislature's prior work served as a clear blueprint for my plan):
District 1 - Rob Bishop (R-Brigham City) -- the northwest corner of the state, dominated by Davis and Weber Counties along the Front.
District 2 - Jim Matheson (D-Salt Lake City) -- considering it would comprise 60% of Salt Lake, 6% of Davis, and all of Summit, this district might have literally voted for Obama...yes, it's now possible to draw a genuine Democratic seat in Utah! And while the legislature may not draw Matheson something quite as favorable, they are sure to stick him in a safe urban district to avoid introducing a new Democrat into the delegation.
District 3 - Jason Chaffetz (R-Alpine) -- the largest area in the state, but Utah County (Provo-Orem) reigns supreme.
New District 4 - Safe Republican, contains 40% of Salt Lake and all of Washington -- odds would favor a second Salt Lake County Congressman here (a Republican to complement Matheson), but if rural areas stick together, there is room for someone from outside the Wasatch Front.
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