February 21st, 2012
jeff-rosenberg

Congressional redistricting: Court avoids huge changes

As I mentioned this morning, Minnesota’s courts typically opt for redistricting plans that keep changes as small as possible while still getting the job done. The 2012 Congressional maps [PDF] are no exception. There are changes — CD3 gets redder and CD2 gets bluer — but the new districts are quite similar to the old.

Minnesota Congressional Districts 2012 and 2002 Comparison

The indispensable TonyAngelo has some data on the partisan breakdown of the new districts, based on Obama/McCain votes. As you can see, not much changed.

The news that initially seems most earth-shattering, but isn’t, is that Michele Bachmann’s current home is now in CD4, Betty McCollum’s district. Unsurprisingly, Bachmann says she will run in the 6th. Legally, she doesn’t even have to move if she doesn’t want to.

While the changes are minor, I think they’re good news for the DFL. CD3 and CD2 are both competitive now. A safe district wasn’t created for Chip Cravaack, who will now have a tough race on his hands in 2012. CD6 got redder, which is fine by me — I’ve been arguing for a while that we should let them have Bachmann and use our resources elsewhere.

Your thoughts?

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