309 House districts

[muon2]

The ID-NV-UT split seems very awkward, especially the ID-NV connection and the double chop of ID. I would split it this way:

Idaho west: add Owyhee = 981 K
Idaho east: ID parts not in Idaho west plus UT Box Elder, Weber, Cache, Rich = 983 K
Salt Lake county = 1030 K
Utah central: Summit, Morgan, Davis, Tooele, Juab, Utah, Wasatch, Duchesne, Uintah, Daggett = 1013 K
Vegas (2 dists): add Nye, Esmeralda, Mineral = 2001 K
Deseret: remainders of NV and UT = 1025 K

Another obvious change would be to split the Dakotas into east and west halves. Use the Missouri river in SD and follow it into ND but split north to keep Bottineau on the west side. That gives a fairly even split of the population.

[muon2]

Another obvious change would be to split the Dakotas into east and west halves. Use the Missouri river in SD and follow it into ND but split north to keep Bottineau on the west side. That gives a fairly even split of the population.

Did you account for Wyoming being in the western district?  I've seen similar lines suggested for an east-west division of the Dakotas into two states, but that probably wasn't concerned as much with them being equal in population (but just having the part (south)west of the Missouri as the (south)western state would make that state too small to be a viable option).

And what counties besides Bottineau were the easternmost counties in North Dakota (and South Dakota if necessary) in the western district in your plan until you get to a county west of the Missouri River?

The closest-seeming southerly extension of the Bottineau-Rolette County line to the Missouri would have McHenry, Sheridan, Burliegh and Emmons counties in North Dakota and Campbell, Walworth, Potter, Sully and Hughes (Pierre) counties in South Dakota in the western district along with those west of the Missouri (I think I've seen that as a hypothetical state line suggestion).  But I do see alternate extensions going Bottineau-McHenry-Sheridan-Burliegh-Morton (the last of which is west of the Missouri) or Bottineau-McHenry-McLean-Oliver (the last of which is west of the Missouri), which would mean the boundary hit the Missouri River before you crossed the state line.  Or you could go west where the Emmons-Logan County boundary hit the state line to the four corners where the state line crosses the Missouri River, with Campbell County, SD being in the eastern district and Emmons County, ND, and Souix County, ND across the river from Campbell and Corson County, SD across the river from Campbell being in the western district.

WY+everything west of the Missouri+(ND:Williams,Divide,Burke,Mountrail,McLean,Ward,Renville,McHenry,Bottineau)=1016K
The remaining parts of the Dakotas = 1035K

Also I've looked at IL and one can have two BVAP majority dists, one HCVAP majority dist, and no chops except for Cook.

[muon2]

Another obvious change would be to split the Dakotas into east and west halves. Use the Missouri river in SD and follow it into ND but split north to keep Bottineau on the west side. That gives a fairly even split of the population.

Did you account for Wyoming being in the western district?  I've seen similar lines suggested for an east-west division of the Dakotas into two states, but that probably wasn't concerned as much with them being equal in population (but just having the part (south)west of the Missouri as the (south)western state would make that state too small to be a viable option).

And what counties besides Bottineau were the easternmost counties in North Dakota (and South Dakota if necessary) in the western district in your plan until you get to a county west of the Missouri River?

The closest-seeming southerly extension of the Bottineau-Rolette County line to the Missouri would have McHenry, Sheridan, Burliegh and Emmons counties in North Dakota and Campbell, Walworth, Potter, Sully and Hughes (Pierre) counties in South Dakota in the western district along with those west of the Missouri (I think I've seen that as a hypothetical state line suggestion).  But I do see alternate extensions going Bottineau-McHenry-Sheridan-Burliegh-Morton (the last of which is west of the Missouri) or Bottineau-McHenry-McLean-Oliver (the last of which is west of the Missouri), which would mean the boundary hit the Missouri River before you crossed the state line.  Or you could go west where the Emmons-Logan County boundary hit the state line to the four corners where the state line crosses the Missouri River, with Campbell County, SD being in the eastern district and Emmons County, ND, and Souix County, ND across the river from Campbell and Corson County, SD across the river from Campbell being in the western district.

WY+everything west of the Missouri+(ND:Williams,Divide,Burke,Mountrail,McLean,Ward,Renville,McHenry,Bottineau)=1016K
The remaining parts of the Dakotas = 1035K

Okay, thanks.  I had thought of that as what you might have had in mind (like when I wrote Bottineau-McHenry-McLean-Oliver).  Oliver County is west of the Missouri so the district line hits the river at the McLean-Burleigh County line and just goes downstream from there.  Bottineau County, North Dakota is a long way from Uinta County, Wyoming, but the boundary line itself is neater than that in the original plan (and of course this is just a fun academic pursuit anyway).

Bottineau may not be a great fit with WY, but Ward (Minot) is a much better fit than the south suburbs of Sioux Falls. I've been to all three of those counties, and the impact of the oil industry in the areas west of Ward make NW ND a very good fit to WY.

[muon2]

The ID-NV-UT split seems very awkward, especially the ID-NV connection and the double chop of ID. I would split it this way:

Idaho west: add Owyhee = 981 K
Idaho east: ID parts not in Idaho west plus UT Box Elder, Weber, Cache, Rich = 983 K
Salt Lake county = 1030 K
Utah central: Summit, Morgan, Davis, Tooele, Juab, Utah, Wasatch, Duchesne, Uintah, Daggett = 1013 K
Vegas (2 dists): add Nye, Esmeralda, Mineral = 2001 K
Deseret: remainders of NV and UT = 1025 K

Another obvious change would be to split the Dakotas into east and west halves. Use the Missouri river in SD and follow it into ND but split north to keep Bottineau on the west side. That gives a fairly even split of the population.

One of my objectives here was to have districts wholly contained in counties that, by themselves, are near either the quota or have close to multiple ones. The rest of the ID+NV+UT seats would have to gobble Esmeralda, Nye, and Mineral.

The problem with NV is that the bulk of the population of Nye is in Pahrump at the southern end, and it's basically an exurb of Las Vegas providing housing for people who work in Vegas. It's even in the same CSA as Clark. I understand your rationale, but shouldn't connected populations count for something, especially when they reduce the deviation?

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Any way I could get a more logical split of SD though?

I've answered that by using the east-west Dakota split. There is a strong sense of the Missouri river as the natural and political divide in SD. Any other split of SD is artificial. In both ND and SD there's a distinct change in the topography and economy driving along I-94 or I-90 when you cross the big river. Plus western ND is oil country like WY.

[muon2]

The ID-NV-UT split seems very awkward, especially the ID-NV connection and the double chop of ID. I would split it this way:

Idaho west: add Owyhee = 981 K
Idaho east: ID parts not in Idaho west plus UT Box Elder, Weber, Cache, Rich = 983 K
Salt Lake county = 1030 K
Utah central: Summit, Morgan, Davis, Tooele, Juab, Utah, Wasatch, Duchesne, Uintah, Daggett = 1013 K
Vegas (2 dists): add Nye, Esmeralda, Mineral = 2001 K
Deseret: remainders of NV and UT = 1025 K

Another obvious change would be to split the Dakotas into east and west halves. Use the Missouri river in SD and follow it into ND but split north to keep Bottineau on the west side. That gives a fairly even split of the population.

One of my objectives here was to have districts wholly contained in counties that, by themselves, are near either the quota or have close to multiple ones. The rest of the ID+NV+UT seats would have to gobble Esmeralda, Nye, and Mineral.

The problem with NV is that the bulk of the population of Nye is in Pahrump at the southern end, and it's basically an exurb of Las Vegas providing housing for people who work in Vegas. It's even in the same CSA as Clark. I understand your rationale, but shouldn't connected populations count for something, especially when they reduce the deviation?

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Any way I could get a more logical split of SD though?

I've answered that by using the east-west Dakota split. There is a strong sense of the Missouri river as the natural and political divide in SD. Any other split of SD is artificial. In both ND and SD there's a distinct change in the topography and economy driving along I-94 or I-90 when you cross the big river. Plus western ND is oil country like WY.

How does this work out?
Does this look sensible, overall?

No for the Dakotas. You are splitting the Sioux Falls area besides ignoring the east-west divide extending into ND. Minnehaha and Lincoln are not only in the same MSA, but they meet the criteria to be in the same UCC. There's no rational reason to split them, except to preserve ND. Even then there are are better ways then running to the SE corner IMO.