Alternative Districts: Nebraska State Legislature
Below you'll find my alternative to the Nebraska State Legislature district map. As with all of my maps, certain criteria are considered including: compactness, coalescing communities of interest including large minority voting blocs, and respecting political boundaries. Recreating the actual map using Dave’s Redistricting App was not practical since too many districts couldn’t be drawn to match exactly, which caused discrepancies that had significant effects on district demographics. The presentation adheres to my new preferred layout, which displays an image of region of focus, followed by district descriptions that include names of counties, in part or whole, and current PVI (Partisan Voting Index), concluded with a brief summary contrasting significant changes between my version and the actual version. My version better respects political and geographical boundaries throughout the state. As with all of diaries in this series, data for each district is assembled at the end of the diary using spreadsheets via Stephen Wolf’s guide, which is cited alongside my other sources.The district numbering keeps to the previous numbering as closely as possible.
Omaha 3-14, 18, 20, 31, 39, 45, 49
3. Sarpy (part); R+14
4. R+11
5. D+6
6. R+11
7. D+15
8. D+13
9. D+10
10. R+1
11. D+35
12. R+7
13. D+23
14. Sarpy (part); R+13
18. R+3
20. R+15
31. R+12
39. R+17
45. Sarpy (part); R+8
49. Sarpy (part); R+16
The districts in this area represent more than a third of the state’s population. It also has the highest concentration of Democratic leaning and non-White districts. My version maintains a Black and a Hispanic opportunity district, the 11th and 7th respectively, and increases the amount of Black voters in the 13th district.
Lincoln 21, 25-29, 32, 46
21. R+2
25. R+11
26. Even
27. D+6
28. D+10
29. R+1
32. Seward, Lancaster (part); R+20
46. D+11
This is the only other large concentration of Democratic strength in the state. My version respects the city of Lincoln’s municipal boundaries, by drawing more compact districts and by having one fewer district cross the city limits. All of the districts are kept within the Lincoln Metro Area.
Northeast 15-17, 19, 22, 40
15. Dodge; R+17
16. Burt, Cuming, Washington; R+23
17. Dakota, Thurston, Wayne; R+11
19. Stanton, Madison (part); R+29
22. Platte, Colfax (part), Madison (part); R+30
40. Antelope, Cedar, Dixon, Knox, Pierce; R+32
Half of the districts here are kept the same — the 15th, 16th and 17th. The 19th, 22nd, and 40th are configured to better adhere to the highways. U.S. 275 runs through the 19th district, U.S. 81 runs through the 22nd, and U.S. 20 runs through the 40th district, which improves connections within the districts.
Southeast 1, 2
1. Johnson, Nemaha, Pawnee, Richardson, Otoe (part); R+21
2. Cass, Otoe (part), Sarpy (part); R+19
The only real difference in my version is that the 2nd trades its eastern part of Otoe County north of Nebraska City for a western part of the county west of Syracuse.
West-Central 41-43, 47, 48
41. Blaine, Boyd, Custer, Holt, Garfield, Greely, Loup, Sherman, Valley, Wheeler; R+34
42. Lincoln; R+27
43. Box Butte, Brown, Cherry, Dawes, Keya Paha, Rock, Sheridan, Sioux; R+31
47. Arthur, Banner, Cheyenne, Deuel, Garden, Grant, Hooker, Keith, Kimball, Logan, McPherson,
Morrill, Perkins, Thomas; R+34
48. Scotts Bluff; R+24. The 42nd and 48th districts are kept the same.
One big difference in this region is between the 43rd and 47th, with the districts becoming more East-West oriented. The 41st district is actually mostly revamped becoming more North-South oriented. U.S. 281 runs through the 41st from Holt to Greely counties.
Grand Island-Hastings-Kearney-Lexington 24, 33-37
24. Fillmore, Hamilton, Polk, York, Hall (part); R+30
33. Adams, Clay; R+24
34. Boone, Howard, Merrick, Nance, Hall (part); R+27
35. Hall (part); R+14
36. Dawson, Buffalo (part), Hall (part); R+26
37. Buffalo (part); R+23
These districts better adhere to the small cities in the Platte River Basin. The Lexington based 36th now heads east towards Grand Island. The 34th stays north of the river. The Hastings based 33rd heads east into Clay County. Within the 24th is the intersection of I-80 and U.S. 81 in Polk County south of the city of York. The Kearney based 37th remains a compact district in Buffalo County and the 35th is kept within Grand Island.
South 30, 38, 44
30. Gage, Saline; R+13
38. Franklin, Jefferson, Kearney, Nuckolls, Thayer, Webster, Phelps (part); R+29
44. Chase, Dundy, Furnas, Frontier, Gosper, Harlan, Hayes, Hitchcock, Red Willow; R+36
These districts are actually more compact, even though Phelps County is split between the 38th and 44th, as they have more practical East-West orientations. U.S. 34 runs through much of the 44th district.
23. Butler, Saunders, Colfax, (part); R+23
This leftover district didn’t fit neatly into any other region. The district is essentially the same as the actual 23rd.
Currently, the Nebraska State Legislature map favors Republicans. While my version increases opportunities in which Democrats can compete and win, mostly in the Omaha and Lincoln areas, Republicans would still be favored to consistently win majorities. Still, my version improves the overall appropriateness of the districts by: improving overall compactness, coalescing communities of interest, and respecting political boundaries. This makes my version of the chamber’s districts more representative of the state.
Thanks for viewing!
The maps were created using Dave’s Redistricting App: gardow.com/…
2016 Election Results were acquired via Dave’s Redistricting App 2020 update
The charts and data were assembled using spreadsheets via Stephen Wolf’s guide: www.dailykos.com/…
The Statistical Atlas was used to match the district numbering: statisticalatlas.com/…
Link to Kansas maps:
Alternative Districts: Kansas State Senate
Alternative Districts: Kansas State House of Representatives