What Redistricting Looks Like In Every State

On Nov. 1, the state Supreme Court approved the Colorado independent redistricting commission’s proposed congressional map over the objections of Democrats and Hispanic advocacy groups.

Like the current map, Colorado’s new congressional map includes four likely Democratic seats and three likely Republican seats, but it also adds one highly competitive seat (Colorado gained a congressional seat this year based on population increases in the state). The map has a very low efficiency gap, suggesting few votes are wasted, but its median seat is slightly (5 percentage points) more Republican-leaning than the state as a whole, which has led to some grumbling by Democrats: The map makes it quite possible that the state’s congressional delegation would split 4-4 even though Colorado has trended blue in recent elections. Democrats currently control all levers of government in the state and — setting aside good government — would have been able to draw the maps to their advantage had voters not approved the formation of an independent redistricting commission in 2018.

Hispanic advocacy groups are also upset because they say the new map does not give enough power to Hispanic voters. Although almost one quarter of Colorado’s population is Hispanic, no district has an Hispanic plurality; the closest is the new 8th District, whose voting-age population is 35 percent Hispanic.