METHODOLOGY
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There’s a lot of complaining about gerrymandering, but what should districts look like? We went back to the drawing board and drew a set of alternative congressional maps for the entire country. Each map has a different goal: One is designed to encourage competitive elections, for example, and another to maximize the number of majority-minority districts. See how changes to district boundaries could radically alter the partisan and racial makeup of the U.S. House — without a single voter moving or switching parties. How we did this »
Show current district boundaries
Gerrymander districts to favor Republicans
Gerrymander districts to favor Democrats
Match partisan breakdown of seats to electorate
Promote highly competitive elections
Maximize number of majority-minority districts
Make district shapes compact (using an algorithm)
Make districts compact while following county borders
← National map
Chance of being represented by either party
Usually Democratic districts | Highly competitive districts | Usually Republican districts | |
---|---|---|---|
Current |
Usually Democratic districts | Highly competitive districts | Usually Republican districts | |
---|---|---|---|
Current |
Party probabilities
Every district by the chance it will be represented by either party
Democratic gerrymander | ||
Majority minority | ||
Proportionally partisan | ||
Highly competitive | ||
Compact (borders) | ||
Compact (algorithmic) | ||
Current | ||
Republican gerrymander |
How the maps compare on district competitiveness, minority makeup, respect for local borders, compactness and the efficiency gap, an attempt to gauge how politically gerrymandered a set of districts is
Proportional | R+2% |
Competitive | R+2% |
Compact (algorithmic) | R+3% |
Majority minority | D+4% |
Compact (borders) | R+5% |
Current | R+10% |
Dem. gerrymander | D+11% |
GOP gerrymander | R+16% |
Competitive | 22 |
Majority minority | 8 |
Compact (algorithmic) | 6 |
Compact (borders) | 6 |
Current | 2 |
Proportional | 1 |
GOP gerrymander | 1 |
Dem. gerrymander | 1 |
Majority minority | 21 |
Competitive | 18 |
Compact (algorithmic) | 17 |
Dem. gerrymander | 17 |
Compact (borders) | 17 |
Current | 14 |
Proportional | 14 |
GOP gerrymander | 12 |
Compact (borders) | 35 |
Proportional | 52 |
GOP gerrymander | 53 |
Current | 55 |
Majority minority | 61 |
Competitive | 69 |
Dem. gerrymander | 74 |
Compact (algorithmic) | 163 |
Compact (borders) | 1 |
Compact (algorithmic) | 2 |
Proportional | 3 |
GOP gerrymander | 4 |
Competitive | 5 |
Dem. gerrymander | 6 |
Majority minority | 7 |
Current | 8 |
The racial or ethnic makeup of each district and each district’s likelihood of being represented by a member of a racial or ethnic minority, based on election results since 2006
Share of population by race | Chance of being represented by a ... | Chance of being represented by a ... | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
District | District | Majority Race | 0% 50% 100% | Minority member | Democrat | Republican | ||||
1st | White | 3% | <1% | >99% | ||||||
2nd | White | 8% | 3% | 97% | ||||||
3rd | White | 2% | 2% | 98% | ||||||
4th | White | 1% | <1% | >99% | ||||||
5th | White | 5% | <1% | >99% | ||||||
6th | White | 6% | 6% | 94% | ||||||
7th | White | 10% | 12% | 88% | ||||||
8th | White | 2% | <1% | >99% | ||||||
9th | Minority coalition | 79% | >99% | <1% | ||||||
10th | White | 6% | 6% | 94% | ||||||
11th | White | 3% | <1% | >99% | ||||||
12th | White | 3% | <1% | >99% | ||||||
13th | White | 2% | <1% | >99% | ||||||
14th | White | 7% | 3% | 97% | ||||||
15th | Hispanic/ Latino | 92% | 89% | 11% | ||||||
16th | Hispanic/ Latino | 95% | >99% | <1% | ||||||
17th | White | 5% | 3% | 97% | ||||||
18th | Minority coalition | 82% | >99% | <1% | ||||||
19th | White | 5% | <1% | >99% | ||||||
20th | Hispanic/ Latino | 84% | 96% | 4% | ||||||
21st | White | 5% | 5% | 95% | ||||||
22nd | Minority coalition | 6% | 5% | 95% | ||||||
23rd | Hispanic/ Latino | 76% | 40% | 60% | ||||||
24th | White | 5% | 6% | 94% | ||||||
25th | White | 3% | 3% | 97% | ||||||
26th | White | 2% | <1% | >99% | ||||||
27th | Minority coalition | 25% | 2% | 98% | ||||||
28th | Hispanic/ Latino | 90% | 94% | 6% | ||||||
29th | Hispanic/ Latino | 95% | >99% | <1% | ||||||
30th | Minority coalition | 89% | >99% | <1% | ||||||
31st | White | 5% | 4% | 96% | ||||||
32nd | White | 7% | 18% | 82% | ||||||
33rd | Hispanic/ Latino | 91% | >99% | <1% | ||||||
34th | Hispanic/ Latino | 94% | 95% | 5% | ||||||
35th | Hispanic/ Latino | 81% | 99% | 1% | ||||||
36th | White | 2% | <1% | >99% |
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