Last week saw three more states published and this week we have interactive state legislative district maps for Michigan, Rhode Island, Minnesota, and South Dakota. Each legislative chamber is mapped out using the presidential election results calculated by Daily Kos Elections, the legislative election results, and some info on each legislator. For maps of 11 other state legislative chambers, see the first in this series here.
Districts in solid blue were carried by Obama and are represented by a Democrat, while those in solid red were won by Mitt Romney and are held by a Republican. Lighter red districts voted for Obama and a Republican legislator, while those in lighter blue went for Romney and a Democratic legislator. All vacant seats are assigned to the party that last won them. Note that the map displays use only the two-party vote to give you a more equivalent comparison between presidential and legislative results, but the diary and Daily Kos Elections' numbers include totals for third party candidates, though the differences are minor.
Michigan State Senate
Republicans have had total control over drawing the legislative lines for two decades in a row and have used that advantage to produce very favorable districts. Twenty-one Senate districts voted for Romney while just 17 seats voted for Obama. The last Senate elections were held under the old map in 2010, but the districts have remained similar enough that we can assign each legislator to a seat. (The new Republican leaning SD-26 is the exception, and it is colored gray.) The Republicans currently hold six Obama seats, while Democrats have no Romney territory: This gives the GOP a 26 to 12 super-majority.
While Obama won Michigan 54-45 percent, the median district favored Romney 50-49, a full 10 points to the right of the state. The Republicans have controlled the Senate since the 1984 elections, and Democrats don't have much room for error if they want to take back the chamber this year.
Michigan State House of Representatives
In the lower chamber the Republican majority is far narrower at just 59 to 51, despite a Democratic popular vote win of roughly eight percent in 2012. Gerrymandering helped Team Red keep their majorities: Romney carried 57 districts while Obama won only 53. Two Democrats sit in Romney seats while four Republicans have Obama turf (one independent in Detroit functions as a Democrat).
Of all the legislative districts we've calculated nationwide, Detroit's HD-07 is Obama's single best. The president won 99 percent of the vote there, and it also has the highest percentage of black residents at 95 percent. The median districts went for Romney 50-49, 11 points to the right of the state. Democrats held a majority in the House from 2007 to 2011 and it's possible that Gov. Rick Snyder's mediocre approval rating could give them a shot at retaking it. Unlike the Senate, the House is up every two years, so Democrats may be able to finish the job in 2016 if they get close to flipping the chamber this year.
Below the fold you will find maps for Rhode Island, Minnesota, and South Dakota.
Rhode Island State Senate
Obama's 63-35 percent victory in the Ocean State was one of his best anywhere, and it enabled him to carry every single one of the 38 districts in the state Senate. Republicans hold just five of these plus an independent that caucuses with them, giving Democrats a commanding 32 to six veto-proof majority. Only four districts saw Romney even come within single digits. The median seat voted for Obama 60-37 percent, which was still five points to the right of the state despite a Democratic drawn map. This is mostly due to left-leaning voters being concentrated in heavily blue areas like Providence.
Rhode Island State House of Representatives
Although Romney managed to win two seats in the 75 seat chamber, his party is actually in a worse position in the House: Democrats hold one of them and Republicans only won five Obama seats. This gives Democrats a 69 to six veto-proof majority. The median district went for Obama 62 to 36, a narrow two percent to the right of his statewide margin.
Minnesota State Senate
Just as it has for the past four decades, divided government in Minnesota caused the courts to step in and take over redistricting. This produced some of the few non-partisan maps nationwide and several competitive seats. Thirty-eight districts voted for Obama while 29 went for Romney. There's a bit more crossover voting than in the previous two states: Five Republicans and six Democrats sit in districts that voted for the opposite party's presidential nominee. This gives the Democrats a 39 to 28 majority, more than reversing the 37 to 30 majorities the Republicans won in the 2010 red wave. The median seat voted for Obama 50-47, which makes it four points redder than the state. The Senate will next be up in 2016, so Democratic control is locked in for a while.
Minnesota State House of Representatives
State House districts are nested two a piece inside a Senate district and unfortunately the map is quite favorable to Republicans for being court-drawn. Despite winning the state 53-45, Obama won just a bare majority of 68 districts Romney carried 66. What gives the Democrats their fairly large 73 to 61 majority is crossover voting: Nine Democrats hold Romney seats while just four Republicans are in Obama districts. The median districts went for Obama by less than half a percent, placing them seven percent to the right of the state. The Republicans won a majority in the House in 2010, and it's quite possible they could retake control in 2014 or in the near future.
South Dakota State Senate
Republicans controlled redistricting in South Dakota but that wasn't necessary for them to elect a large majority in this solid red state. Romney's 58-40 statewide win gave him 30 out of 35 districts. Three Democrats and one Republican sit in seats won by the other party's presidential candidate, giving the GOP a hefty 28 to 7 super-majority. The median seat was carried by Romney 58-40 which when taking rounding into account puts it one point to the left of the state.
South Dakota State House of Representatives
The House of Representatives districts are coterminous with those of the state Senate. Most House districts elect the top two-vote getters, except for two seats that were divided into four to give Native Americans more representation. Thus two more color shades are necessary and the lightest blue indicates a Romney-won split delegation while the lightest red and Obama-voting split delegation. Obama carried 10 seats to Romney's 60: Nine Democrats sit in hostile turf along with two Republicans for a 53 to 17 Republican majority. The median seats are again the same Romney margin of 58-40 and a point more Democratic than the state.