Following the recent publication of interactive state legislative maps for 11 states, here's another set of maps for three additional states: Ohio, New Hampshire and Wyoming. Using the presidential election by legislative district results calculated by the team at Daily Kos Elections, these maps in Google's Fusion Tables program let you see President Obama's performance in each district along with the party represented in the legislature and some key stats for each legislator.
Districts in solid blue were carried by Obama and represented by a Democrat, while those in solid red were won by Mitt Romney and 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 an apple-to-apples 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.
Ohio State Senate
For the third time in a row, Republicans were in charge of drawing the Buckeye State's legislative districts. They were thus able to gerrymander a very solid 23 to 10 veto-proof super-majority in a state Obama carried 51-48 percent. Obama won 14 and Republicans hold five of those, while 19 districts voted for Romney and a Democrat represents just one. Under the current maps, it looks like the Republican majority is very secure. The median district was carried by Romney by 51-46 percent, placing it about eight points to the right of Ohio overall. If Democrats want to control under the current map, they would need to take some pretty red turf. Only half of the Senate is elected each cycle, so Team Blue would need two
very good cycles in a row.
Ohio State House of Representatives
In Ohio, each Senate district contains three whole House districts. The Republican-drawn map unsurprisingly gives their party a sizable 60-to-39-seat majority, which is the bare minimum needed to override vetoes, even though Democrats won the popular vote. Both parties control three House seats won by the other side's presidential nominee. The median House district voted for Romney 51-48 percent, putting it about seven points to the right of the state. A Democratic majority under this map isn't impossible, but Team Blue would need to win a lot of light-red seats.
Please head below the fold for New Hampshire and Wyoming.
New Hampshire State Senate
Republicans controlled the entire redistricting process in New Hampshire and used that advantage to help them win a narrow 13-to-11 majority. Obama and Romney each won 12 seats; however, Republicans were able to stay in power by winning two Obama seats, while Democrats have just one Romney district. New Hampshire voted for the president 52-47 percent, but the median seat in the Senate is Obama 50-49, four percent to the right of the state. Given how Republicans won two districts by just 1.4 percent or less and Democrats flat-out won the popular vote, it is quite possible the gerrymander was the only thing preserving their majority.
New Hampshire State House of Representatives
New Hampshire State House of Representatives Floterial Districts
Unlike the more conventional state Senate, New Hampshire's state House of Representatives is one of the most unique state legislative bodies in the country. The House is by far the largest state legislative chamber in any of the 50 states, with 400 total representatives. (The New Hampshire legislature is the fourth largest English-speaking legislature in the world, behind only the parliaments of India and the United Kingdom, and the United States Congress). Additionally, the House has many multi-member districts with varying numbers of seats per district. On top of that, the state uses floterial districts whose boundaries overlap with other districts to give localities extra representation. Due to multi-member districts being able to elect members of both parties, an additional third color shade of blue and red is necessary with the lightest shade of blue indicating a Romney district with a split delegation and the lightest shade of red being an Obama district won by both parties.
There are 204 separate districts and those carried by Obama contain 242 or 60.5 percent of the 400 seats while Romney seats add up to 168 or just 39.5 percent. Overall, Democrats won a 221-to-179 majority in 2012, but the immense size and very non-professional nature of the chamber have seen several vacancies reducing that to a 213-to-175 Democratic majority. Assigning vacant seats to the party that last held them, Democrats won 23 seats in Romney districts while Republicans were elected to 45 seats in Obama territory. The median seat in New Hampshire's 400-person House went for Obama 52-47, about his statewide margin. No party can be comfortable holding the majority in the House as the chamber is prone to wild swings. For instance, in 2010 the 216-174 Democratic majority transformed into a massive 298-102 Republican super-majority; two years later the Democrats won back power with a 221-179 edge.
Wyoming State Senate
Wyoming is one of the very most conservative states in the country and thus it should come as no shock that Republicans assumed total control over drawing district lines. The party holds an absurdly lopsided 26-to-4 majority in the state Senate but it has the potential to get even bigger: Romney carried 28 districts while Obama took only two. Republicans astonishingly hold Obama's best seat in the state, with SD-17 in Teton County backing the president 55-43. Democrats hold three districts won by Romney: Amazingly, Republicans left SD-13 without a candidate despite it voting for Romney 67-29. The median Senate seat voted for Romney 71-26, about four points to the right of his already hefty statewide margin.
Wyoming State House of Representatives
The Republican Party has its proportionally largest majority of any state legislative body in the Wyoming House, with 52 seats to the Democrats' eight. Romney carried 55 districts, of which Democrats won five. Obama won only five House districts, and Republicans represent two of these. Astoundingly, Democrats did not even field a candidate in Republican-held HD-16 where Obama won by 63 to 34 percent. By the same token, Republicans didn't run anybody in the Democratic-held HD-39, where Romney won 68 to 28. The median district went for Romney 72-26, about five points to the right of the state.