Now that it's 2011, the redistricting games will soon begin in earnest, with more detailed Census data expected in February or March and some states holding spring legislative sessions to deal with drawing new maps. Long ago I planned to do state-by-state rundowns of the redistricting process as soon as 2010 election results and Census reapportionment were clear. Now that time has arrived, and I'll go alphabetically, starting with Alabama, Arizona, and Arkansas.
4:46am: Hm, nope. We're now at 77% reporting, and Miller's up by 2,996. That's it from me, though. Goodnight and good luck!
4:41am: Okay, I lied. With 72% now reporting (the final DoE update for the night), Miller now leads by over 3,100 votes.
4:28am: Final update, I swear! From the ADN:
The final results of the race won't be known for a week. The Alaska Division of Elections said over 16,000 absentee ballots were requested and as of Monday night 7,600 had been returned. The first count of absentees will be next Tuesday and there will be subsequent counts as they trickle in on Sept. 3 and on Sept. 8.
4:24am: The Anchorage Daily News is tweeting that the Alaska DoE will stop counting votes at 12:30am local (six minutes from now) and will resume in the morning. Hope you have your morning coffee ready!
4:00am: One final update from the SSP Rocky Mountain Headquarters: We're up to 66% of the vote reporting in Alaska, and Joe Miller's lead has shot up to 2,881 votes (still 52-48). Who knows how long it'll take to sort this one out. The last time we covered a close Alaska primary, we ended up liveblogging for 24 hours.
3:22am: We're going to call it a night at SSP. Before we go, though, a quick Alaska update: 51% are reporting (not much change over the last hour), and Miller's lead is 52-48, by 2,300 votes. Based on half-assed piecing-apart of the legislative districts (y'know, it seems like once every two years I really find myself wishing that Alaska had counties), though, that lead may be kind of fragile as more rural areas start to report more. But we'll know more tomorrow.
3:20am: A few minutes ago the AP finally called AZ-03 for Ben Quayle, who wins with an overwhelming mandate of 23%. He'll face Dem Jon Hulburd in November. Also just noticed the AP called, at some point, AZ-Sen D for Rodney Glassman, who wins with 35% and will face John McCain.
2:50am: And it looks like they've just shut it down for the night in Vermont, with no clear victor in the Dem gubernatorial primary. They're still stalled at 232 of 260 precincts.
2:49am: 94% reporting in AZ-03, but still no call. It's still Ben Quayle at 23, with 18 for Steve Moak, and 17 for Jim Waring and Vernon Parker each.
2:47am: Sean Parnell has been called the victor in the GOP gubernatorial primary. It wasn't that overwhelming, though: also exactly 50% of the vote, with Bill Walker pulling in 34%.
2:45am: Almost exactly half reporting in Alaska, and the Miller lead continues to grow very slightly: he's up to a 2,200 vote lead, good for a 52-48 margin. Whoever wins will face Scott McAdams; the Sitka mayor has been called by the AP as winner of the Dem primary (with 50% of the vote).
2:14am: With 36% reporting, it's still 51-49 for Miller over Murkowski. The lead is up to 1,200 votes. Interestingly, though (if I'm reading this map correctly), it seems like the Mat-Su Valley (the most conservative part of the state, including Wasilla, home of Miller's most famous endorsers) has mostly reported (based on state House districts 12 and 15). The Bush (which if you remember your 2008 history, where Young's victory eventually came from) reports later, and they might be less teabaggish and more pork-friendly out there.
2:00am: The last uncalled GOP primary in Arizona is AZ-03, although we're up to 81% reporting. Ben Quayle is still leading, by that same 23-18-18 margin over Jim Waring and Steve Moak.
1:45am: One other call: the AP call the GOP primary in AZ-01 for rogue dentist Paul Gosar. He'll face Ann Kirkpatrick. He wins with only 31%, beating Sydney Hay at 23 and Rusty Bowers at 14.
1:42am: The AP has called Don Young's GOP primary for him, beating Sheldon Fisher with 70%. He'll face Dem Harry Crawford in November.
1:41am: We're up to 33% reporting in Alaska, and it's still 51-49 for Miller over Murkowski, with a 1,000 vote lead for Miller. (Well, 1,002, if you want to get technical.)
1:35am: Follow us over here.
1:34am: And yet another lead change in Vermont. Now Peter Shumlin is back on top by 121 votes over Doug Racine, thanks to only two more precints reporting (now 232 out of 260).
1:28am: Meanwhile, back in Arizona, the AP has called the AZ-08 GOP primary for Jesse Kelly, who unexpectedly beats establishment favorite Jonathan Paton 49-40.
1:26am: We've moved up to 29% reporting; Miller still leads Murkowski by about 500.
1:24am: Via the Twitter, Taniel is reminding us that Don Young trailed early in the GOP 2008 primary (against now-Gov. Parnell), and came back slowly as the late precincts from the Bush (where they like and in fact depend on their pork, and thus love the old-school Alaska politicians, in which category Murkowski seems to fall) trickled in.
1:20am: At least the indestructible Don Young is cruising; he leads the AK-AL GOP primary over Sheldon Fisher 70-24.
1:18am: We've got gubernatorial results in Alaska too. On the Dem side, Ethan Berkowitz is leading, though maybe not as big a margin as expected; he leads Hollis French 48-42. On the GOP side, Sean Parnell also leading by a not overwhelming margin, 48 over 35 for Bill Walker and 14 for Ralph Samuels.
1:15am: Wow, this is big. We're just getting the first Alaska results (via the state site, the AP has nothing) and we've got a real race in the AK-Sen GOP primary. Joe Miller leads Lisa Murkowski 51-49, with 27% reporting (119 of 438).
1:11am: We're rounding the halfway mark in AZ-Sen D (1100 out of 2239), and it's looking like Rodney Glassman is on track to face John McCain. He's at 35, with Cathy Eden at 28, J. Dougherty at 24, and Randy Parraz back at 13.
1:09am: The AP has called AZ-05, where David Schweikert is still at 39% atop a crowded field. That's with only 38% reporting, but he's well ahead of Susan Bitter Smith, at 25.
1:07am: Contrast that with Arizona, where nothing interesting has happened since the initial rollout of votes. In AZ-01, we're up to 66% reporting, and it's still the exact same, with Paul Gosar over Sydney Hay 32-23. Rusty Bowers, who on paper seemed like he should have been the frontrunner thanks to his long-ago legislative tenure and then his duties lobbying on behalf of the sand and gravel industry, is in 4th place at 14, trailing B. Beauchamp.
1:03am: I don't think this Vermont race could get any closer if we tried. Doug Racine pulled back into the lead, by a whopping 13 votes over Peter Shumlin. That's with 230 out of 260 precincts reporting (88% in).
1:00am: In AZ-03, we're up to 48% reporting. Looks like Ben Quayle going crying to mommy and daddy may have saved him in the end; he's still holding at 23, beating Jim Waring and Steve Moak, both at 18.
12:51am: The Peter Shumlin lead is declining a bit in Vermont: he's up by 45 now, 16,401 to 16,366 over Doug Racine, with Deb Markowitz at 15,621. (That's 25-25-24.) 88% are reporting.
12:29am: We're up to 35% reporting in AZ-03, and Ben Quayle has inched up to 23%, ahead of Waring at 19% and Moak at 18%. A Quayle win would certainly breathe a bit of life into well-financed Democrat Jon Hulbard's campaign...
12:25am: Shumlin's lead is now down to 75 votes (over Racine). Markowitz trails by 768 votes.
12:21am: Smoke 'em if you got em, fellow Swingnuts.
12:17am: Over in AZ-06, GOP incumbent Jeff Flake is at a somewhat underwhelming 67% against his Some Dude opponent.
12:11am: Get your Florida election law on. Automatic recounts are the name of the game if the final margin is less than 0.5%. In FL-24, Adams leads SnakesinaPool by 0.8% with one measly precinct outstanding.
12:05am: Not much has happened in the Arizona House Races. Gosar's lead in AZ-01 is 10% of 5,500 votes with 51% reporting; nothing else new from AZ-03, 05, or 08.
12:03am: Shumlin's now up to a 250-vote lead in VT-Gov, which is probably the largest lead of the night. Markowitz is still about 550 behind Racine.
12:00am: Still no call in FL-24, where we're missing only one precinct in Brevard County. The last one added no votes, leaving Adams' lead at 560, or 0.85%. SSP Legal is looking to Florida's recount laws...
11:54pm: In AZ-Sen (D), we're at 19% reporting; Glassman leads Eden 35-29, with Parraz in a distant fourth at 12.
11:48pm: More precincts keep flowing (dripping) in Vermont, where Racine is now 49 votes behind Shumlin. Markowitz is another 618 votes behind with 85% in.
11:46pm: Just two precincts left outstanding in FL-24, where Sandy Adams continues to hold her 560-vote lead over Karen SnakesInAPool (TM) Diebel, though both of them are in reptile-infested Brevard County.
11:41pm: Checking in on the Arizona house races, Paul Gosar has a 33-22 over retread Sydney Hay in AZ-01; Ben Quayle has a 22-19-18 lead over Jim Waring and Steve Moak in AZ-03. Dave Schweikert's seem to have done fine despite his recanted hubris, leading Susan Bitter Smith by 6,000 votes or 39-25 in their AZ-05 rematch; the teabaggish Jesse Kelly has a 50-39 lead over establishment pick Jonathan Paton in AZ-08.
11:37pm: Back in VT-Gov, Peter Shumlin has now taken a 126-vote lead over Doug Racine; Deb Markowitz has now fallen another 526 votes back.
11:34pm: The Glass Man is up to 36-29 over Eden. Over in AZ-08, Kelly leads Paton by 50-39. In AZ-01, it's 33-23 for rogue dentist Gosar over Sydney Hay.
11:31pm: We'd be remiss if we didn't mention the one other competitive statewide race in Florida, the AG race on both sides. For the Dems, state Sen. Dan Gelber beat fellow state Sen. Dave Aronberg (who the DCCC had tried to lure into FL-16), 59-41. And on the GOP side, Sarah Palin-approved Pam Bondi beat Charlie Crist's estranged Lt. Governor, Jeff Kottkamp, 38-33.
11:28pm: Well, that was fast. The AP has called AZ-Sen R for John McCain! (Good news!)
11:20pm: In the 5th, David Schweikert leads Susan Bitter Smith and Jim Ward 39-25-23. And in the 8th, this may be the big surprise of the night: teabagger Jesse Kelly is leading NRCC fave Jonathan Paton by a pretty wide 55-40.
11:19pm: In the House races, Paul Gosar's over Sydney Hay 36-23 in the 1st. In the 3rd, Ben Quayle is leading 22-19-18 over Jim Waring and Steve Moak.
11:17pm: Finally, some data's trickling in from Arizona. (Check out the SoS site, not the AP.) John McCain is crushing J.D. Hayworth 60-30. Rodney Glassman has a small lead over Cathy Eden, 33-31. (Randy Parraz is in 4th.)
11:12pm: Check out the raging enthusiasm with which the RGA greeted Rick Scott's awesome victory!
"Rick Scott is the nominee, the general election has begun, and our party now looks forward."
11:11pm: Switching back over to Vermont, now that we're pretty much done with Florida and Arizona hasn't given us anything yet. It's Racine and Shumlin both at 25 (Racine up by 43 votes) with Markowitz at 24.
11:07pm: This just gets tastier and tastier. McCollum isn't conceding yet. He's saying "this'll go into the wee hours of the morning."
RESULTS:
11:00pm: Time for some fresh thread.
10:55pm: Hahahhahahahahahha! The AP calls FL-Gov for none other than Rick Scott! Fuckin' amazing!
10:53pm: Over in FL-24, is Sandy Adams this cycle's Alice Kryzan? Diebel attacked Miller on immigration, Miller attacked Diebel on crazy, and Adams is walking through the hole in the middle. Still, it's a very close race and not yet called.
10:49pm: Speaking of Boyd, the AP just called the race for him. What a crazy race.
10:47pm: The hamsters have been spinning in their wheels furiously to keep the ol' mainframe running, which is still calling for about a 2-point Scott win and a 3-point Boyd escape.
10:42pm: We have a winner in FL-17! The AP has called the race for state Sen. Frederica Wilson, with 35% of the vote. Self-funder Rudy Moise was a distant second with 16%. He spent over a million bucks to get fewer than 6,000 votes (so far).
10:37pm: Rick Scott has now nudged up to 47%. If he hangs on, Tom Jensen and the gang over at PPP are going to look like geniuses.
10:34pm: Annette Taddeo, who ran a spirited campaign last cycle in FL-18, is running again this year for County Commissioner in Dade Co. Unfortunately, things don't look so hot for her right now - she is in third place (look for District 8) in a race where the top two candidates advance.
10:28pm: We're up to 67% in VT-Gov, Racine leads Markowitz by 8 votes. Shumlin trails by 50 or so votes. Basically, every update of this race has given us a new leader.
10:20pm: We're now up to 81% reporting in Florida, and Rick Scott leads by 46-43. Note the disparity between the AP and Miami-Dade's website in terms of precincts reporting: AP says 380, Miami-Dade says 526, but both show the same raw vote total. I've learned that when in doubt, the AP is usually wrong!
10:13pm: A perfect tie! Racine and Shumlin are at 9,440 votes each. Markowitz is about 200 votes behind.
10:07pm: Over in Vermont, Peter Shumlin had the lead briefly, but now it's Doug Racine over Markowitz by 34 votes. (52% reporting)
10:06pm: The AP has called FL-25's GOP primary for David Rivera. He's up 64, to Crespo's 25 and Cancio's 10. Democratic oppo researchers are doing happy dances.
10:05pm: Eagle-eyed watchers may have noticed that the Miami-Dade elections office is about 300 precincts further along than the AP (526, instead of 213). McCollum needs to make up about 40K votes statewide, and the further-along Miami votes only help him make up about 5,000, though. Anyway, according to the AP, 72% are reporting, and it's still 47-43 in favor of Scott.
9:59pm: It's still a small Sandy Adams lead on the GOP side in the 24th. She leads Karen Diebel 30-29, with Craig Miller at 27, with 93% reporting. On the Dem side, let's Partyka like it's 2010. Suzanne Kosmas beat even-more-conservaDem Paul Partyka 78-22.
9:57pm: Did we mention there were primaries in the open seat FL-12? On the Dem side, Lori Edwards won 75-25 over Doug Tudor, the 2008 candidate and the preferred candidate of a few vocal souls in the netroots. On the GOP side, Dennis Ross's performance against some teabagging dude J. Lindsey wasn't overwhelming: 69-31.
9:55pm: Allen Boyd is starting to put a little more distance between him and Al Lawson, if 52-48 can be considered distant. That's with 86% reporting, and with mostly rural white counties left (Boyd's stronghold) to report.
9:51pm: Things are starting to look kind of locked in, in the Florida GOP gubernatorial race. With 65% reporting, it's still 47 for Lex LuthorBizarro World Peter Garrett Rick Scott, 43 for Bill McCollum. There's still 2/3ds of Miami-Dade County left, though, where McCollum is doing well (up 63-30), presumably because of his support in the Cuban community over his less-insane immigration stance.
9:47pm: In the wildly swinging Vermont gubernatorial race (if you go by percentages instead of raw votes), Deb Markowitz has pulled back into the lead by about 65 votes over Doug Racine. It's 26-26 with Shumlin at 24 and Dunne at 19.
9:44pm: One more call to mention: the AP called OK-05 for outsiderish social con Jim Lankford, who beats Club for Growth stooge Kevin Calvey 65-35.
9:41pm: The AP called the Dem field in FL-25 for Joe Garcia, who beats Luis Meurice 77-23. Still no call on the GOP side, but David Rivera's at 64.
9:39pm: No call yet in the GOP field in FL-24, but it has one thing in common with FL-08: the NRCC's prize pick finished embarrassingly back. In the 24th, Craig Miller is in 3rd at 27 (with Sandy Adams at 31 and Karen Diebel at 30). And in the 8th (which is called), Bruce O'Donoghue finished 5th, at _7_, behind Daniel Webster at 40, Todd Long at 23, Kurt Kelly at 14, and heretofore unknown P. Sullivan at 11.
9:37pm: Somewhere in there, the Republican primary in FL-05 got called for the Nuge. That's Richard Nugent, not Ted, the Hernando Co. Sheriff who beats random teabagger Jason Sager 62-38 for the right to succeed Ginny Brown-Waite. He'll face Dem Jim Piccillo in the general.
9:35pm: With 57% now reporting statewide in Florida, we're still holding at a 47-43 lead for Rick Scott. That's with 10 for Mike McAllister, a pretty good showing for Some Dude, although he pretty much a priori has to be the least of three evils.
9:32pm: The mainframe at SSP Labs has finally laid its egg (extrapolating each county's results so far), and it predicts that Allen Boyd will continue to hold the lead and survive, by a not-so-convincing 52-48 margin. (He's currently up 51-49 over Al Lawson, says the AP.) By the way, who ever wins will face Steve Southerland; the AP has called the GOP field in the 2nd for him, with 48% out of a field of five.
9:30pm: In what's likely to not be the last lead change of the night, now Doug Racine leads the Dem pack in Vermont, with not quite 1/3 reporting. Racine's at 26, with Markowitz at 25 and Shumlin at 24. (Racine's edge is just 22 votes, so this'll be a game of inches all night.)
9:15pm: And in FL-Gov, Rick Scott leads by 3.6% with 55% of the vote in. The other hot race to watch is FL-24, where conservative state Rep. Sandy Adams leads Karen "Snakes in a Pool" Diebel by 1% with 90% reporting.
9:14pm: We're at 73% reporting in FL-02, and Allen Boyd's lead has dipped down to 51-49. The ticker tape is spewing out of the SSP Labs mainframe fast and furiously -- we'll let you know what our findings tell us in a few minutes.
RESULTS:
Polls close in less than an hour in select locations, so let's hear some predictions! Can Bill McCollum beat free-spending Rick Scott by virtue of being less unlikeable in the Florida governor's race? Can Jeff Greene sail his vomit-covered yacht through the rapidly closing window in the Florida Senate race? Can J.D. Hayworth help you get free government grant money?
Closing times tonight:
• Florida: 7 pm ET (except: 7 pm CT/8 pm ET in the Panhandle)
• Vermont: 7 pm ET
• Oklahoma: 7 pm CT/8 pm ET
• Arizona: 7 pm MST/10 pm ET
• Alaska: 8 pm local/midnight ET (except: 8 pm local/1 am ET in the Aleutians)
FL-Gov (R) - (yes!!!!!!)
FL-Sen (D) - Meek v. Greene
FL-12, 25 (R) - open seats
FL-02, 08, 22, 24 (R)
FL-02 (D) - challenge to a Blue Dog from the left, v4.1
FL-17 (D) - Meek's open seat
AK-Gov (R) - Parnell and the ghost of Palin?
AK-Sen (R) - Murkowski v. Palin proxy
8/28:
LA-Sen (R) - Vitter v. Traylor
LA-02 (D) - Lafonta v. Richmond
LA-03 (R)
This is according to Rasmussen so it could be another push poll. Gov Brewer is a distant third. They also give Arpaio with a big lead over Goddard, ehich sounds VERY suspect.
If Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio decides to seek the Republican nomination for governor of Arizona, he will enter the race as the clear favorite. Incumbent Governor Jan Brewer places third in an early look at the 2010 GOP gubernatorial race.
Yes, I have created another Democratic gerrymander. I think the redistrictors in Arizona must create competitive districts. I was able to create some competitive ones. My main objectives were to strengthen Gabrielle Giffords, Ann Kirkpatrick and Harry Mitchell. They are all Democrats elected to the U.S House in 2006 and 2008 in districts that McCain won in the single digits. Except maybe for Kirkpatrick, I probably strengthened those Democrats. I was able to weaken John Shadegg enough to attract strong competition. As for the other Republicans, I kept their district safely Republican while creating two new Republican districts. I had to do that because all those Republicans had to go somewhere. It is pretty difficult to aim for a 5-5 or 6-4 Democratic delegation in a state McCain won with 53% of the vote. Now here are the maps.
Northern Arizona
Southern Arizona
Phoenix area
Tucson area
District 1 Ann Kirkpatrick (D) Blue
I am sorry I could not strengthen Kirkpatrick much. The best I could do was to remove only a small slice of Conservative Yavapai County. Also, I wish I could include the Hopi Reservation to allow more Democrats but because of a rivalry with the Navajo, I am unable to put both tribes in the same districts. Except for taking out a bit of Yavapai County, the district pretty much remains the same. Since Kirkpatrick easily won here by 16 points, she should be safe enough. McCain probably won 53% of the vote here. Racial stats are 16% Hispanic, 21% Native American and 60% White. Status is Likely Democratic.
District 2 Trent Franks (R) Green
This district stays pretty much the same except I moved a bit of eastern Glendale and western Phoenix out of the district. I took in some White parts of Yuma County and a bit more of Coconino County which totals to about only 7,000 people. This district probably voted about 60% for McCain. Racial stats are 17% Hispanic and 73% White. Status is Safe Republican.
District 3 John Shadegg (R) Bright Purple
Shadegg should be in for a tough race with this map. I removed the more Conservative northern part of his district. Even though I slipped in part of the current Republican 2nd district, this should not alter the political leanings of this district enough. To weaken Shadegg tremendously, I added in parts of the heavily Hispanic 4th district. This increases the Hispanic population from 14% to 30%. In 2008, Shadegg said he wanted to retire and then retracted the statement. Such a shaky district would probably propel him to retire. With Shadegg gone, this district is a prime pickup for the Democrats. The redistricting panel will like it because it is competitive enough. Obama probably won 51% of the vote here and he certainly would have won more voters if McCain were not from Arizona. The racial stats are 30% Hispanic and 59% White. Status is Toss Up if Shadegg stays, Lean Democrat if he retires.
District 4 Ed Pastor (D) Red
I had to move this district into some Republican areas to strengthen Obama's performance in other districts. I remember Michael Barone in the Almanac of American Politics 2006 said that Republicans can dominate because they win fast growing areas. Well Michael, did you know that the fastest growing Arizona district is the heavily Hispanic 4th? The growth of Hispanics has been useful in shoring up other districts. Still, Ed Pastor should be fine in this majority Hispanic district. Obama probably won 64% of the vote here. Racial stats are 6% African American, 58% Hispanic and 31% White. Status is Safe Democrat.
District 5 Harry Mitchell (D) Yellow
I removed most of northern Scottsdale from the district and part of Tempe. I substituted that by adding part of the current 4th district to boost the Hispanic population here. Mitchell is in his late 60's and he may retire soon. This district should be safe for him or any other Democrat who represents it. Minorities should become the majority here in a few years. Obama probably won 54% of the vote here. Racial stats are 5% African American, 34% Hispanic and 53% White. Status is Likely Democrat if Mitchell retires, Safe Democrat while he represents it.
District 6 Jeff Flake (R) Teal
I kept Flake's district pretty much the way it used to be. I removed all of Pinal County and kept the district centered on Mesa (just for trivia, Mesa is larger than Cleveland, OH but most people in the East have never heard of it.) There are a few Hispanic neighborhoods in Mesa but they should not be nearly enough to offset the Republican majorities in the rest of the city. McCain probably won 60% of the vote here. Racial stats are 23% Hispanic and 68% White. Status is Safe Republican.
District 7 Raul Griljava (D) Gray
This district is about the same except I moved most of the Tucson area and substituted it with heavily Hispanic areas in Phoenix. I took out some Republican areas in Yuma as well as La Paz County. The Pinal County portion stays the same except I added a few Hispanic precincts. Since this district has a Hispanic majority, Griljava should not worry. Obama probably won 55% of the vote here. That should be safe enough. Racial stats are 5% African American, 5% Native American, 54% Hispanic and 34% White. Status is Safe Democrat.
District 8 Gabrielle Giffords (D) Purple
One of my priorities was to protect Giffords from a strong challenge even though she seems pretty safe in her district. To protect her, I removed every inch of Cochise County from this district and replaced it with almost all of Tucson and some Hispanic areas in Pinal County. With Republican battles for the 10th district over in Cochise County, Giffords should have no strong opponent. Obama probably won 54% of the vote here. Racial stats are 35% Hispanic and 55% White. Status is Safe Democrat.
District 9 No Incumbent (R) Light blue
If a Republican does not win here, I am shocked. I removed the whitest areas I could find from the 3rd and 5th districts and slipped in parts of the 6th district due to population growth. It would be great if someone could tell me about state legislators who might run here but former Congressman J.D Hayworth might take a run at this seat. I imagine there will be a big Republican battle for the seat but Democrats will have token opposition. McCain probably received 62% of the vote here. Racial stats are 12% Hispanic (the lowest amount for any of my districts) and 81% White (the highest for any of my districts.) Status is Safe Republican.
District 10 No Incumbent (R) Pink
This district basically takes in Republican parts of the old 8th, 7th and 1st districts. With the more Democratic areas in those districts, the 10th should stay heavily Republican. The only possible problem is growth of Hispanics but that should not be an issue for awhile. The competition in this district will be in the Republican primary. The candidates could be Randy Graf from the southern part of the district or someone from Maricopa/Pinal County. McCain probably won 59%-60% of the vote here. Racial stats are 22% Hispanic and 69% White. Status is Safe Republican.
I decided to take on Arizona with its unique redistricting rules. Contrary to many states, Arizona focuses less on incumbent protection and even competitiveness, and more on "communities of interest" (though doesn't really provide a clear definition for what this means). Additionally, as evidence by the 2000 map which sought unsuccessfully to make Arizona a 5R-3D state in line with its partisan leanings, they will very likely address the fact that the current 5D-3R doesn't look like Arizona either and draw definitely one and likely both of the new districts so that they elect Republicans. On the same token I'd expect them to address the fact that there's sort of a problem when Obama won 45% of the vote here yet he has the potential to only have won 2 of the 10 districts, so thus I chose to create a 3rd Obama district. As they do kinda take into consideration competitiveness, at least as an afterthought, 5 of the 8 old districts are now closer to 50-50 than they were before. I opted not to create a 3rd Hispanic-majority district, as I really don't think that a third one will be mandated by the Justice Department. In fact, as best as I can tell, AZ-07 wasn't required in 2000, either (remember, despite popular opinion whenever someone redistricts Louisiana here, the Justice Department doesn't actually require that the percent of districts that a state has that are minority-majority must be equal to the percent of it's population that is Hispanic (otherwise Texas would look much, much better for us)). However, they will likely require that there is a working Hispanic majority in a second district, thus AZ-07 should see a bit of an uptick in its Hispanic population. That being said, it's still a very legitimate possibility that the redistricting commission opts to create a 3rd Hispanic-majority district anyway, though there probably isn't a strong a "community of interest" argument for one this time around (as the two largest Hispanic communities, South Phoenix & the border, are already covered and the next largest, the southern part of the West Valley, doesn't really have a large enough Hispanic community just yet.
I calculated political data based off these maps for the 2004 and 2008 presidential races to provide more depth to this map, as I've noticed that a lot of the recent maps rely on at best educated guesses for what the actual political realities are on the ground. While I'm confident enough in my data to post it, it likely isn't perfect. Arizona doesn't have townships or anything like that, so sometimes it's difficult to figure out exactly where precincts belong. Additionally, I'd like to thank Dave and his awesome Redistrict Application, which made this possible.
Finally, I'm perfectly aware that the nature of the rules in Arizona means that someone could come in with the same basic goals that I have and come out with a very different map, so I'd love to here what other people have to think.
Social conservatives tolerated John McCain as the party's nominee, but never trusted him, and he now appears to be facing a serious primary from the right in Arizona next year.
Chris Simcox, the founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps and a prominent figure in the anti-immigration movement, will announcing tomorrow at an event on the Mexican border that he's resigned from the group to run in the 2010 Senate primary.
From a forthcoming release:
"John McCain has failed miserably in his duty to secure this nation's borders and protect the people of Arizona from the escalating violence and lawlessness," Simcox said. "He has fought real efforts over the years at every turn, opting to hold our nation's border security hostage to his amnesty schemes. Coupled with his votes for reckless bailout spending and big government solutions to our nation's problems, John McCain is out of touch with everyday Arizonans. Enough is enough."
McCain was forced to abandon his own immigration reform legislation during last year's Republican Primary, a move that may have cost him substantial Hispanic support to which his record could have given him access.
So he's basically getting it from both sides on this one.
Simcox, with a national base and a high profile on the right, is well positioned to give McCain a serious local headache. He'll find some allies among the conservatives who recently took over the Arizona Republican Party from McCain's allies, and he has a national fundraising base.
