Partisan balance of redistricting committees in 2011
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Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan• Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming |
In states which use a traditional legislative process and have already chosen their committees, a total of 573 legislators have been appointed to redistricting committees. Of these 573, 251 (43.80%) are Democrats and 315 (56.20%) are Republicans.
Of the 50 states conducting redistricting this year, 23 of them were counted for this study based on the following factors:
- Legislature has primary control of redistricting
- Committee members have been appointed
States were not included if:
- Redistricting is done by a bi-partisan or non-legislative commission
- The committee in charge of redistricting has not yet been appointed
In the 23 states counted, Republicans hold 55.94% of seats. The average strength of state majorities for either chamber regardless of party is 63.71%. Committees generally represent these majorities with majority parties enjoying an average 66.25% majority on committees.
How states delegate redistricting authority
In each of the 50 states, redistricting is carried out by a variety of different processes. The majority of states simply conduct redistricting within the state legislature, using ordinary legislation. For this task, the legislature creates committees to draft or review redistricting proposals. Some states, like California, use an independent commission to draw new maps. Some of these commissions can be partisan while other's are bipartisan by law. Still other states use a hybrid approach with a combination of commissions and legislation.
Most/least partisan states
On average, most committees closely represent the partisan composition of their respective chamber. However, several states are either especially favorable to the majority or especially fair to the minority.
Most partisan
- Mississippi House Committee: Although Democrats hold just under 56% of the seats in the Mississippi House of Representatives, they hold almost 90% of the seats on the redistricting committee. This is the largest pro-majority disparity in the states counted.
- Alabama Senate Committee: In the Alabama State Senate, Republicans hold just over 60% of the seats. However, on the senate redistricting committee, the GOP holds an over 80% majority.
Least partisan
- Oklahoma House Committee: Although Republicans hold almost 70% of the seats in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, they only hold 56% of the seats on the redistricting committee. This is the largest pro-minority disparity in the states counted.
- Utah Senate Committee: In the Utah State Senate, Republicans hold just over 75% of the seats. However, on the senate redistricting committee they hold just under 67% of the seats.
Detailed data
Partisan breakdown of redistricting committees
The following chart displays the partisan breakdown of committees that are charged with redistricting after the 2010 census.
| Redistricting Committees | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senate | House | Total | |||||||
| State | Democrats | Republicans | Democrats | Republicans | Independents | Democrats | Republicans | ||
| Alabama | 2 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 16 | |||
| Arkansas | 4 | 4 | 12 | 8 | 16 | 12 | |||
| Florida | 8 | 15 | 6 | 15 | 14 | 30 | |||
| Georgia | 4 | 12 | 8 | 14 | 12 | 26 | |||
| Illinois | 10 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 16 | 11 | |||
| Indiana | 3 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 14 | |||
| Kentucky | 3 | 8 | 22 | 13 | 25 | 21 | |||
| Louisiana | 4 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 1 | 11 | 17 | ||
| Massachusetts* | 6 | 1 | 17 | 4 | 23 | 5 | |||
| Michigan | 3 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 12 | |||
| Minnesota** | 3 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 12 | |||
| Mississippi | 4 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 12 | 7 | |||
| Nevada | 3 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 12 | 8 | |||
| New Mexico* | 6 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 7 | |||
| North Carolina | 4 | 10 | 19 | 23 | 1 | 23 | 33 | ||
| Oklahoma | 3 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 14 | |||
| Oregon | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 | |||
| South Carolina*** | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 | |||
| South Dakota | 1 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 12 | |||
| Texas | 6 | 8 | 5 | 12 | 11 | 20 | |||
| Utah | 2 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 5 | 14 | |||
| Virginia** | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 7 | |||
| Wyoming | 1 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 11 | |||
| Total | 91 | 141 | 160 | 181 | 2 | 251 | 322 | ||
- * Massachusetts and New Mexico employ a joint legislative committee. In this table, members are counted by their respective chamber.
- ** Minnesota and Virginia also have joint committees, but both are bipartisan and of equal representation.
- *** South Carolina's redistricting committees are both subcommittees of the Judiciary Committee in their respective chamber.
Proportionality of committee representation
The following chart shows the proportion of majority committee members in relation to the partisan composition of the legislature. In general, minority members are well represented on committees, with only small deviation from equitable representation. However, several states have significantly more partisan commissions. The fact that these more heavily-weighted committees occur on both sides of the isle is reflected by the small average deviation.
| State | House Majority | % Majority | % on Committee | Difference | Senate Majority | % Majority | % on Committee | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama |  Republican |
61.90% | 63.64% | 1.73% | Republican |
62.86% | 81.82% | 18.96% |
| Arkansas |  Democratic |
54.00% | 60.00% | 6.00% | Democratic |
57.14% | 50.00% | -7.14% |
| Florida | Republican |
66.67% | 71.43% | 4.76% | Republican |
70.00% | 65.22% | -4.78% |
| Georgia | Republican |
64.44% | 63.64% | -0.81% | Republican |
64.29% | 75.00% | 10.71% |
| Illinois | Democratic |
54.24% | 54.55% | 0.31% | Democratic |
59.32% | 62.50% | 3.18% |
| Indiana | Republican |
60.00% | 58.33% | -1.67% | Republican |
74.00% | 70.00% | -4.00% |
| Kentucky | Democratic |
59.00% | 62.86% | 3.86% | Republican |
57.89% | 72.73% | 14.83% |
| Louisiana | Republican |
52.38% | 61.11% | 8.73% | Republican |
56.41% | 60.00% | 3.59% |
| Massachusetts* | Democratic |
80.00% | 80.95% | 0.95% | Democratic |
90.00% | 85.71% | -4.29% |
| Michigan | Republican |
57.27% | 66.67% | 9.39% | Republican |
68.42% | 66.67% | -1.75% |
| Minnesota | Republican |
53.73% | 58.33% | 4.60% | Republican |
55.22% | 62.50% | 7.28% |
| Mississippi | Democratic |
56.56% | 88.89% | 32.33% | Republican |
51.92% | 60.00% | 8.08% |
| Nevada | Democratic |
61.90% | 60.00% | -1.90% | Democratic |
52.38% | 60.00% | 7.62% |
| New Mexico* | Democratic |
51.43% | 55.56% | 4.13% | Democratic |
64.29% | 66.67% | 2.38% |
| North Carolina | Republican |
55.83% | 54.76% | -1.07% | Republican |
62.00% | 71.43% | 9.43% |
| Oklahoma | Republican |
69.31% | 55.56% | -13.75% | Republican |
66.67% | 75.00% | 8.33% |
| Oregon | Tie | Tie | Tie | Tie | Democratic |
53.33% | 50.00% | -3.33% |
| South Carolina | Republican |
61.29% | 60.00% | -1.29% | Republican |
58.70% | 57.14% | -1.55% |
| South Dakota | Republican |
71.43% | 75.00% | 3.57% | Republican |
85.71% | 85.71% | 0.00% |
| Texas | Republican |
67.33% | 70.59% | 3.25% | Republican |
61.29% | 57.14% | -4.15% |
| Utah | Republican |
77.33% | 71.43% | -0.41% | Republican |
75.86% | 66.67% | -9.20% |
| Virginia | Republican |
59.00% | 66.67% | 7.67% | Democratic |
55.00% | 62.50% | 7.50% |
| Wyoming | Republican |
83.33% | 77.78% | -5.56% | Republican |
86.67% | 80.00% | -6.67% |
| ZZZZTotal | - | 62.65% | 65.35% | 2.95% | - | 64.76% | 67.15% | 2.39% |
- * Massachusetts and New Mexico employ a joint legislative committee. In this table, members are counted by their respective chamber.
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