For my next foray into redistricting, I decided to map upstate New York, an area that will lose one seat. The seat I removed was accidental Congresswoman Buerkle's seat. All seats have been renumbered to account for the loss of two seats.
Drawing this map was hard since I ended up having to split Syracuse. If I gave all of Syracuse to Bill Owens, I don't know how I could get his district to stretch to Plattsburgh (where he lives) and it would probably lead to a primary challenge from a Syracuse Democrat. Therefore, Owens ended up with only the northern slice of the city. The rest of Syracuse went to Republican Richard Hanna, making him the only upstate Republican whose seat becomes more Dem. I gave the remnants of Buerkle's district to Reed.
This map I drew helps out Hochul, Owens, Reed, Hayworth, Higgins, and Gibson. Hanna has a seat that Dems can flip no problem in a neutral or better year. I also undid the stupid Slaughter earmuff and put her district entirely in her home of Monroe County.
I may have been a little sloppy with upstate New York, but I hope you like my work. More below the fold.
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