Partisan balance of redistricting committees in 2011

Redistricting
State-by-state redistricting procedures
Majority-minority districts
Congressional district demographics
United States census, 2020

In those states in which state legislatures are primarily responsible for redistricting, a total of 573 legislators had been appointed to redistricting committees as of May 2011. Of that total, 251 (43.80 percent) were Democrats and 315 (56.20 percent) were Republicans.

Of the 50 states conducting redistricting in 2011, 23 were counted for this study based on the following factors:

• The legislature has primary authority over redistricting.
• Committee members are appointed.

States were not included if the following criteria were met:

• Redistricting is completed by a bipartisan or non-legislative commission.
• The committee charged with redistricting had not yet been appointed as of May 2011.

How states delegate redistricting authority

In each of the 50 states, redistricting is accomplished 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, such as California, employ an independent commission to draw new maps. Some of these commissions are partisan, while other's are bipartisan by law.

Most and least partisan states

On average, most committees closely represent the partisan composition of their respective chambers. However, several states are either especially favorable to the majority party or especially fair to the minority party.

Most partisan

• Mississippi House Committee: Although Democrats held just under 56 percent of the seats in the Mississippi House of Representatives, they held almost 90 percent of the seats on the redistricting committee. This was the largest pro-majority disparity in the states counted.
• Alabama Senate Committee: In the Alabama State Senate, Republicans held just over 60 percent of the seats. However, on the senate redistricting committee, the GOP held a majority of over 80 percent.

Least partisan

• Oklahoma House Committee: Although Republicans held almost 70 percent of the seats in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, they only held 56 percent of the seats on the redistricting committee. This was the largest pro-minority disparity in the states studied.
• Utah Senate Committee: In the Utah State Senate, Republicans held just over 75 percent of the seats. However, on the senate redistricting committee they held less than 67 percent of the seats.

Detailed data

Partisan breakdown of redistricting committees

The following chart displays the partisan composition of committees that were charged with redistricting after the 2010 census.

Redistricting committees after the 2010 census
	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
Notes: * Massachusetts and New Mexico employ a joint legislative committee. In this table, members are counted by their respective chambers. ** 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 chambers.

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 aisle 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%
Notes: * Massachusetts and New Mexico employ a joint legislative committee. In this table, members are counted by their respective chamber.

See also

• Redistricting
• State-by-state redistricting procedures