The Trond can't help it...

[minionofmidas]

Lousiana
One additional county split in New Orleans area is inevitable; placing is debatable but is suggested by Baton Rouge-based district.

1 82% of Orleans, Washington, Saint Tammany [the areas of New Orleans outside this district would probably mostly be high-lying White areas to the South(west) of the city... which makes this district Democrat-electing and EXTREMELY polarized.]
ca.634,660 .994
2 18% of Orleans, Saint Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson
ca.634,660 .994
3 Saint Charles, Terrebonne, Lafourche, Saint John the Baptist, Saint James, Saint Mary, Assumption, Iberia, Iberville, Saint Martin, Ascension, West Baton Rouge
637,094 .998
4 East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Saint Helena, Livingston, Tangipahoa
637,139 .998
5 Pointe Coupee, West Feliciana, Saint Landry, Evangeline, Avoyelles, Concordia, Tensas, Madison, East Carroll, West Carroll, Catahoula, Franklin, Richland, La Salle, Caldwell, Ouachita, Rapides, Morehouse
647,431 1.014
6 Union, Claiborne, Lincoln, Jackson, Bienville, Webster, Winn, Bossier, Caddo, Red River, De Soto, Sabine, Natchitoches, Grant
638,861 1.001
7 Cameron, Vermilion, Calcasieu, Jefferson Davis, Acadia, Lafayette, Beauregard, Allen, Vernon
639,131 1.001

[minionofmidas]

Tennessee
1 Cocke, Jefferson, Grainger, Hancock, and east
632,058 1.000
2 Knox, Blount, Sevier, and Anderson
630,355 .997
3 along the state's southern perimeter from Monroe to Giles, plus McMinn and Moore
633,460 1.002
4 anything else east of D5
624,018 .988
5 Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Sumner, Cannon, Marshall, Bedford and Macon
625,484 .989
6 Davidson and Robertson (no alternatives to this grouping, btw)
624,324 .988
7 west of all these as far as Weakley, Carroll, Henderson, Chester and McNairy
634,828 1.004
8 remainder except for D9
ca.642,378 1.016
9 72% of Shelby
ca.642,378 1.016

[minionofmidas]

I know why I didn't find the first of these maps - it never occurred to me to search for a combination that separated York and Cumberland.
I'm not sure why I didn't find that second map - although it hardly matters as my map too is within 1%, so I didn't have to prove whether there were any better maps.

[minionofmidas]

Lewis Trondheim got the closest New Hampshire plan that didn't split counties or render either district contiguous.

I know that. Due to the much higher variation, I expended far more attention on this one. (Plus, it was actually rather easy, thanks to the counties' geographical positions.) 

[minionofmidas]

Someone advise me...
In Idaho, should I go with a variant of the current map, splitting the Boise area though not (as currently) Ada County?
e.g.
1 Idaho Co & North of that + anything as far as Valley, Boise, Gem, Payette + Ada
643,303 .994
2 remainder
650,650 1.006
(this one could be done with better balance I am sure, though it'd look somewhat worse. It's only an example for now.)

Or should I build one district around Boise and Twin Falls, and have another bridge the remaining areas?
e.g.
1 Ada, Canyon, Payette, Washington, Elmore, Owyhee, Gooding, Lincoln, Jerome, Minidoka, Twin Falls, Cassia
645,089 .997
2 remainder
648,864 1.003

[minionofmidas]

Kentucky

Yes, I did go and try to replace Ben Chandler with a coalfield Democrat.

1 Hancock, Ohio, Butler, Logan, Simpson, and west
672,379 .998
2 Meade, Hardin, Larue, Taylor, Adair, Russell, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Jackson, Laurel, Whitley, and west to D1
672,486 .998
3 97% of Jefferson
675,668 1.003
4 3% of Jefferson, Bullitt, Shelby, Henry, Owen, Grant, Pendleton, Oldham, Trimble, Carroll, Gallatin, Boone, Kenton, Campbell, Bracken, Mason, Harrison, Nicholas, Barbour, Clark
675,668 1.003
5 Bell, Knox, Clay, Owsley, Lee, Estill, Powell, Montgomery, Bath, Fleming, Robertson, Lewis, and east
671,591 .997
6 Franklin, Scott, Fayette, Woodford, Jessamine, Anderson, Mercer, Spencer, Nelson, Washington, Marion, Boyle, Garrard, Casey, Lincoln, Madison
673,977 1.001

[minionofmidas]

Missouri

1 Saint Louis City, 27% of Saint Louis County
626,069 1.007
2 62% of Saint Louis County
626,070 1.007
3 11% of Saint Louis County, Jefferson, Saint Genevieve, Saint Francois, Perry, Cape Girardeau, Washington, Franklin, Crawford, Gasconade
626,069 1.007
4 94% of Jackson
615,412 .990
5 6% of Jackson, Lafayette, Carroll, Livingston, Linn, Sullivan, Mercer, and west
615,411 .990
6 anything else north of the Missouri including Saint Charles, except Boone County
619,192 .996
7 Jasper, Newton, McDonald, Lawrence, Barry, Stone, Greene, Christian, Taney, Ozark
620,796 .999
8 southeastern portion of the remainder, as far as Phelps, Pulaski, Camden, Dallas and Polk
620,434 .998
9 Cass, Bates, Vernon, Barton, Johnson, Henry, Saint Clair, Cedar, Dade, Sullivan, Pettis, Benton, Hickory, Morgan, Miller, Cooper, Moniteau, Cole, Boone, Osage, and Maries
625,768 1.007

States left to do - Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, California, Oregon, Washington.
West Virginia, Arkansas, Iowa, Nevada and Hawaii maps already conform to the rules as they are.

[minionofmidas]

Nebraska
Douglas can't be paired with Sarpy, pretty much forcing this kind of map.

1 Douglas, Washington, Burt, Dodge, Cuming, Thurston, Dakota, Dixon
570,282 1.000
2 Sarpy, right bank of the Platte as far as Hamilton, Fillmore, Thayer
569,889 .999
3 remainder
571,092 1.001

[minionofmidas]

I think I got this right:

Wow, that was quick. Remember that those 3% of Jefferson are probably rather more than that by area o/c... oh and Robertson (that ugly dent of 5 into 4) is extremely low in population (2000-odd. One of the smallest counties in KY. Probably one of the smallest counties anywhere east of the Mississippi, come to think of it.), and was moved for better balance but *could* be legally included in D4 instead. Otherwise, yeah you did get that right.

[minionofmidas]

Kansas
1 Johnson, Wyandotte, and Leavenworth
677,659 1.008
2 Brown, Jackson, Shawnee, Wabaunsee, Lyon, Greenwood, Elk, Chautauqua, and west (except for D1 of course)
671,973 1.000
3 Sedgwick, Reno, Harvey, Butler, Sumner, Cowley (I didn't check how the Census Bureau defines it... but if I'd made the definition, this'd be the exact boundaries of the Wichita Metropolitan Area)
672,247 1.000
4 remainder
666,539 .992

[minionofmidas]

Oklahoma

1 Tulsa, Rogers, Wagoner
691,431 1.002
2 Nowata, (D1), Creek, Okfuskee, Hughes, Coal, Atoka, Bryan, and east
691,018 1.001
3 Oklahoma, Lincoln
692,528 1.003
4 Washington, Osage, Pawnee, Payne, Logan, Kingfisher, Blaine, Custer, Washita, Kiowa, Comanche, Cotton, Jefferson and west
689,836 1.000
5 Canadian, Caddo, Grady, Stephens, Cleveland, Pottawattomie, Seminole, McClain, Garvin, Murray, Carter, Love, Pontotoc, Johnston, Marshall
685,841 .994

[minionofmidas]

New Mexico
Bernalillo can't be paired with either Valencia or Sandoval (nor Santa Fe either) which means it has to extend into quite vast areas. The number of legal combinations within these constraints however is legion - districts as diverse as Bernalillo - Cibola - Catron - Sierra or Bernalillo - Torrance - San Miguel - Dem hold NM1 for ever.
I *think* this map has the lowest pop. variation, although it's right up there in Absurdistan...

1 Bernalillo, Cibola, Torrance, Guadalupe, De Baca
606,104 1.000
2 North of that and as far as Quay and Curry
606,989 1.001
3 remainder
605,953 .999

[minionofmidas]

Wait... I think I already did Arizona and just didn't post it yet... Ah, here:
1-4 21% of Maricopa
646,435 1.008
5 16% of Maricopa, Yuma
646,435 1.008
6 75% of Pima
632,217 .986
7 25% of Pima, Santa Cruz, Cochise, Graham, Pinal, Gila
632,216 .986
8 La Paz, Mohave, Yavapai, Coconino, Navajo, Apache, Greenlee
634,024 .989

[minionofmidas]

Utah is easy.
1 Davis, Weber, Morgan, Rich, Cache, Summit, Wasatch, Duchesne, 17% of Salt Lake
746,858 1.003
2 83% Salt Lake
746,859 1.003
3 remainder
739,452 .993

[minionofmidas]

I just threw up all over Colorado. That state is one sorry son of a bitch.

Anyways, here's beautiful Oregon

1 Multnomah, Hood River
680,897 .995
2 Washington, Columbia, Clatsop, Tillamook, Yamhill, Lincoln
678,265 .991
3 Clackamas, Marion, Polk
685,605 1.002
4 Linn, Benton, Lane, Douglas, Coos, Curry
688,496 1.006
5 remainder
688,136 1.006

[minionofmidas]

Washington
A split around Snohomish is inevitable.

1, 2 38% of King
ca.656,732 1.003
3 24% of King, 38% of Snohomish
ca.656,732 1.003
4 62% of Snohomish, Skagit, Whatcom, San Juan
ca.656,732 1.003
5 Thurston, Mason, Jefferson, Clallam, Kitsap, Island
650,765 .994
6 93% of Pierce
ca.654,740 1.000
7 7% of Pierce, Lewis, Cowlitz, Clark, Wahkiakum, Pacific, Grays Harbor, Skamania
ca.654,740 1.000
8 Spokane, Lincoln, Ferry, Stevens, Pend Oreille, Whitman, Asotin. Garfield, Columbia, Walla Walla
649,677 .992
9 remainder
657,271 1.004

[minionofmidas]

Colorado
A split around Denver is inevitable. Additional splits would be very much welcome, but are alas evitable, resulting in the following tortured disgusting map:

1 Denver, 16% of Adams
ca.611,930 .996
2 84% of Adams, Boulder, Gilpin, Clear Creek (Broomfield didn't exist yet when the Census was done, and has been ignored.)
ca.611,930 .996
3 Arapahoe, Washington, Morgan, all the counties along the eastern boundary from Logan all the way down to Baca, Bent, Otero
614,809 1.001
4 Larimer, Weld, Grand, Summit, Lake, Pitkin, Garfield and northwest of that
616,991 1.004
5 Jefferson, Park, Chaffee, Gunnison, Delta, Saguache, Hinsdale, Mineral, Ouray, San Juan
611,449 .995
6 El Paso, Teller, Fremont, Custer, Rio Grande, Alamosa
614,511 1.000
7 (laugh. hard.) Douglas, Elbert, Lincoln, Crowley, Pueblo, Huerfano, all the counties along the southern and western boundary from Las Animas right up to Mesa
619,641 1.008

[minionofmidas]

California
I've done the state twice, actually, (though I'm only posting the second one,) but ended up with quite a number of differences but the same number of county splits - three - and the same nagging feeling that one of these is inevitable. One split is necessary because the country north of the bay, Sacramento, and Placer just doesn't add up to a legal number of districts, or at least not without an internal county split there (the combined population would be large enough for four districts only if they'd all be right at the legal minimum.) One split is necessary because of the population totals of certain San Joaquin Valley counties. The third split (in San Bernardino in the map) becomes necessary because there are several areas where there's only one legal configuration which while legal is rather above par, so the remaining population for the last district is just way too small, and I end up combining it with one of the oversized-but-legal territories neighboring it.

1 Del Norte, Humboldt, Trinity, Mendocino, Siskiyou, Shasta, Tehama, Glenn, Colusa, Modoc, Lassen, Plumas
626,266 .980
2 Sonoma, Napa, Lake
641,202 1.003
3 Marin, Solano (yeah. I consider this contiguous. )
641,831 1.004
4 51% of Sacramento
ca.629,300 .985
5 49% of Sacramento, Amador
ca.629,299 .985
6 68% of Contra Costa
ca.646,075 1.011
7, 8 45% of Alameda
ca.646,075 1.011
9 83% of San Francisco
ca.646,075 1.011
10 91% of San Mateo
ca.646,075 1.011
11 32% of Contra Costa, 10% of Alameda, 17% of San Francisco, 9% of San Mateo (yeah, crossing the bay.)
ca.646,076 1.011
12, 13 38% of Santa Clara
ca.646,062 1.011
14 23% of Santa Clara, Santa Cruz
ca.646,063 1.011
15 San Joaquin, 16% of Stanislaus
ca.637,120 .997
16 85% of Stanislaus, Merced, San Benito
ca.6317,119 .997
17 81% of Fresno
ca.645,269 1.010
18 19% of Fresno, Madera, Tulare
ca.645,268 1.010
19 Monterey, San Luis Obispo
648,443 1.015
20 98% of Kern
ca.647,883 1.014
21 Santa Barbara, 14% of Ventura, 2% of Kern, Kings (weird I know)
ca.647,883 1.014
22 86% of Ventura
ca.647,884 1.014
23-37 7% of Los Angeles
ca.634,623 .993
38 Yolo, Sutter, Yuba, Butte, Sierra, Nevada, 11% of Placer
ca.634,575 .993
39 Inyo, Mono, Alpine, Mariposa, Tuolumne, Calaveras, El Dorado, 89% of Placer, 7% of San Bernardino 300,490
ca.634,575 .993
40, 41 37% of San Bernardino
ca.634,575 .993
42 19% of San Bernardino, 11% of Orange
ca.634,575 .993
43-46 22% of Orange
ca.634,576 .993
47, 48 42% of Riverside
ca.643,083 1.006
49-52 23% of San Diego
ca.643,083 1.006
53 9% of San Diego, 17% of Riverside, Imperia
ca.643,083 1.006

[minionofmidas]

And now for the crowning glory... Texas!

1-5 19% of Harris
ca.653,089 1.002
6 4% of Harris, Brazoria, Galveston, Chambers
ca.653,089 1.002
7 Fort Bend, Wharton, Matagorda, Colorado, Austin, Waller, Washington, Fayette, Lee, Burleson, Bastrop
652,277 1.001
8 Montgomery, Liberty, San Jacinto, Walker, Grimes, Brazos, Madison, Leon
652,168 1.001
9 Jefferson, Orange, Newton, Sabine, Shelby, San Augustine, Panola, Rusk, Angelina, Tyler, Jasper, Hardin
651,534 1.000
10 Fannin, Hunt, Rains, Wood, Upshur, Gregg, Harrison, and northeast of that
655,467 1.006
11 Nacogdoches, Cherokee, Smith, Van Zandt, Kaufman, Henderson, Anderson, Houston, Trinity, Polk, Navarro
651,628 1.000
12-14 29% of Dallas
ca.650,548 .998
15, 16 45% of Tarrant
ca.650,548 .998
17 12% of Dallas, 10% of Tarrant, Johnson, Ellis
ca.650,549 .998
18 Collin, Grayson, Rockwall
645,350 .990
19 Denton, Cooke, Wise, Parker, Montague, Palo Pinto
652,770 1.002
20 Freestone, Limestone, Robertson, Milam, Falls, McLennan, Hill, Bosque, Somervell, Hood, Coryell, Hamilton, Erath, Eastford, Comanche, Brown, Mills, Lampasas, Burnet
652,948 1.002
21 Bell, Williamson, 20% of Travis
ca.650,110 .998
22 80% of Travis
ca.650,111 .998
23 Nueces, San Patricio, Aransas, Refugio, Bee, Goliad, Calhoun, Victoria, DeWitt, Karnes, Wilson, Jackson, Lavaca
656,598 1.008
24 Cameron, Willacy, Kenedy, Kleberg, Jim Wells, Duval, Webb, La Salle, McMullen, Live Oak
651,861 1.000
25 Hidalgo, Starr, Brooks, Jim Hogg, Zapata
648,499 .995
26, 27 47% of Bexar
ca.651,291 .999
28 6% of Bexar, Blanco, Hays, Caldwell, Gonzales, Guadalupe, Comal, Kendall, Atascosa, Bandera, Real, Medina, Frio, Uvalde, Zavala, Kinney, Dimmit, Maverick
ca.651,291 .999
29 Val Verde, Edwards, Kerr, Gillespie, Llano, San Saba, McCulloch, Coleman and west of these (with a straight line for a northern boundary), excluding D30
ca.651,544 1.000
30 96% of El Paso
ca.651,544 1.000
31 Andrews to Callahan, Gaines to Stephens, Yoakum to Jack, Cochran to King
648,954 .996
32 six rows of Panhandle counties, Hardeman, Foard, Knox, Wilbarger, Baylor, Wichita, Archer, Clay
652,760 1.002

[minionofmidas]

New Mexico
Bernalillo can't be paired with either Valencia or Sandoval (nor Santa Fe either) which means it has to extend into quite vast areas. The number of legal combinations within these constraints however is legion - districts as diverse as Bernalillo - Cibola - Catron - Sierra or Bernalillo - Torrance - San Miguel - Dem hold NM1 for ever.
I *think* this map has the lowest pop. variation, although it's right up there in Absurdistan...

1 Bernalillo, Cibola, Torrance, Guadalupe, De Baca
606,104 1.000
2 North of that and as far as Quay and Curry
606,989 1.001
3 remainder
605,953 .999

Yes, the population + county geography combination make splitting counties hard to avoid. Although my old plan did quite well in minimizing that. I only split four counties: Bernalillo because you have to, Sandoval to pick up the northern Urban Area (although if I hadn't hit the population limit I would've then gone south into Valencia to pick up the southern Urban Area), Socorro to nab the Native American Reservation there for CD3, and Colfax to reduce population deviation.

Oh, my version 2 had:
1: 606,359 1.000 Dev. -10
2: 606,421 1.001 Dev. +72
3: 606,266 .999   Dev. -83

Now that is minimal population deviation!

Interesting map there...but it is absurd.

Why exactly do you have to split Bernalillo? Couldn't you do a district of Bernalillo + remainder of Indian rez.s partly in Bernalillo + Albuquerque suburban areas in Sandoval?

[minionofmidas]

Can you dig up the map of your attempt again, Nate?

[minionofmidas]

I just reread the whole thread again. Thanks!