States region map

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Maryland has lost a region on account of the fact that I realized that my calculations were incorrect and it was clocking in at only 3,000 or so square miles of land area per region. The entirety of the Baltimore region is merged in with the Eastern Shore one.

Hawaii is stripped of its second region on account of small area.

Kendall County is shifted from the Kankakee region to the Cook one, to improve compactness.

El Paso and Hudspeth counties are spun off of the Transpecos region. All other regions in Texas remain unchanged.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

This is the map as it stands now.
EDIT: Oops, forgot to color Coconino AZ its own region. That'll be fixed next time

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

https://davesredistricting.org/join/88349103-c576-4382-8791-ca307811318b
The Texas regions in DRA.
Biden won 7 of them and Trump won 12.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

https://davesredistricting.org/join/98d01e47-b3a2-4b37-b106-bfe9eeec01d8

South Carolina has been redrawn, with a loss of a region, because its average land area per region is fairly low and unlike Maryland, its land area as % of total area is quite high. I have tried to keep all regions roughly equivalent in area, and to that end, I have added three counties to the Horry region, including one that produces a straight border with NC's right next door.
Spartanburg and Greenville now rest in the same district.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

What the standings look like now:

Alaska 142,660 4
Texas 13,749 19
California 12,982 12
Montana 14,555 10
New Mexico 15,162 8
Arizona 14,199 8
Nevada 13,723 8
Colorado 11,516 9
Wyoming 13,870 5
Oregon 11,999 8
Idaho 11,806 7
Utah 11,738 7
Kansas 11,680 7
Minnesota 9,953 8
Nebraska 10,975 7
South Dakota 10,830 7
North Dakota 11,500 6
Missouri 7,638 9
Oklahoma 9,799 7
Washington 8,307 8
Georgia 7,189 8
Michigan 8,077 7
Iowa 7,980 7
Illinois 7,931 7
Wisconsin 7,737 7
Florida 5,958 9
Arkansas 7,434 7
Alabama 7,235 7
North Carolina 6,945 7
New York 6,732 7
Mississippi 7,821 6
Pennsylvania 7,457 6
Louisiana 6,172 7
Tennessee 5,891 7
Ohio 5,837 7
Virginia 6,582 6
Kentucky 6,581 6
Indiana 5,118 7
Maine 10,281 3
South Carolina 6,012 5
West Virginia 6,010 4
Maryland 4,854 2
Vermont 9,217 1
New Hampshire 8,953 1
Massachusetts 3,900 2
New Jersey 3,677 2
Hawaii 6,423 1
Connecticut 4,842 1
Delaware 1,949 1
Rhode Island 1,034 1
Average (excluding Alaska: 8,527
Average (including it): 11,209

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Considering New Mexico now has the highest land area-to-region ratio, I have decided to give it an additional region. The region located in the NE part of the state is henceforth split in two, with the four northernmost counties being spun off into a new region. The remaining southern half is roughly equal in land area but has 89k compared to the northern half's 21k. To increase the area of the southern region a bit more, it is given De Baca County.

Montana also gets an additional region, for the same reason. Fergus, Hill, Blaine, and Choteau form a new district. This takes most of the population of the (Valley?) region with it.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

https://davesredistricting.org/join/c0718ff2-fdf0-4bcd-b4e1-0a7a6ba1dc12
Alaska goes from 4 regions to 8. The entire Unorganized Borough becomes what is probably the least populous region in the United States.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

https://davesredistricting.org/join/95a7c324-a242-49ae-9f0a-61a37d59e9a2
Indiana loses a region due to its low land area-to-region ratio. I started from a blank slate and expanded the Indianapolis region for sake of compactness, straight lines, and equal area.

Tennessee loses a region. All of the Nashville region except Rutherford and Wilson counties are added to the Montgomery region (i.e. the rural eastern one). Now all three Grand Divisions are divided into two regions.

To equalize area a bit in West Tennessee, Lauderdale, Haywood, and Hardeman counties are transferred to the Shelby region.

In Kentucky, the same thing is done; every county bordering the current Louisville region is merged into it. Meade and Larue are also added, for compactness reasons. The Lexington region loses from this expansion and is compensated with every county in the Boyd region that presently borders it.

Ohio does not lose a region due to its land area being lower than average as % of total area. The same is true for Florida.

[jimrtex]

https://davesredistricting.org/join/88349103-c576-4382-8791-ca307811318b
The Texas regions in DRA.
Biden won 7 of them and Trump won 12.

I would add McMullen, Duval, Brooks, Jim Hogg, and Kleberg to Coastal Bend. The Lower Rio Grande Valley can be a smaller region just like El Paso.

Extend the Laredo region up to include Uvalde, Kinney, and Val Verde.

Abilene and San Angelo should be in the same region. Add Lampasas to the Heart of Texas, and Hood and Somerville to DFW to cut down on the size of this region - unless you add a region.

Shift the boundary between South Plains and Red River West to the west. The South Plains can go north a tier into the Panhandle.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

https://davesredistricting.org/join/88349103-c576-4382-8791-ca307811318b
The Texas regions in DRA.
Biden won 7 of them and Trump won 12.

I would add McMullen, Duval, Brooks, Jim Hogg, and Kleberg to Coastal Bend. The Lower Rio Grande Valley can be a smaller region just like El Paso.

Extend the Laredo region up to include Uvalde, Kinney, and Val Verde.

Abilene and San Angelo should be in the same region. Add Lampasas to the Heart of Texas, and Hood and Somerville to DFW to cut down on the size of this region - unless you add a region.

Shift the boundary between South Plains and Red River West to the west. The South Plains can go north a tier into the Panhandle.

https://davesredistricting.org/join/88349103-c576-4382-8791-ca307811318b
Thoughts on this alternative arrangement? I added two regions.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

https://davesredistricting.org/join/e50d493d-de7e-40d0-964a-88dd409bdcc9
Decided to increase the number of regions in New Mexico to 11.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Mono, Alpine, and Inyo counties are split off from the Central Valley regions and form their own region now. The number of regions in California grows to 13.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

The Nye region in Nevada is split in two, with Nye and Lincoln counties now forming their own regions to themselves because of their area.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

An additional region is created in North Dakota, which takes in Bottineau and McHenry, then Cavalier and  Ramsey counties, then everything in between.

The region composed of King, Pierce, and Kitsap counties is dissolved. King is paired with Snohomish, and Pierce and King go with Thurston.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Total area (land+water), divided by # of regions per state

Alaska 83,173 8
Texas 8,664 31
California 12,592 13
Montana 12,253 12
New Mexico 11,054 11
Arizona 12,666 9
Nevada 13,821 8
Colorado 11,566 9
Oregon 12,297 8
Wyoming 13,973 7
Michigan 13,816 7
Minnesota 10,867 8
Utah 12,128 7
Idaho 11,938 7
Kansas 11,754 7
Nebraska 11,050 7
South Dakota 11,017 7
Washington 10,185 7
North Dakota 10,100 7
Oklahoma 9,986 7
Missouri 9,958 7
Florida 8,220 8
Wisconsin 9,357 7
Georgia 8,489 7
Illinois 8,273 7
Iowa 8,039 7
New York 7,794 7
North Carolina 7,688 7
Arkansas 7,597 7
Alabama 7,489 7
Mississippi 8,072 6
Pennsylvania 7,675 6
Ohio 7,471 6
Virginia 7,129 6
Tennessee 7,024 6
Kentucky 6,735 6
Indiana 7,284 5
Maine 11,793 3
South Carolina 6,404 5
West Virginia 8,077 3
Maryland 6,203 2
Hawaii 5,466 2
Massachusetts 5,277 2
Vermont 9,616 1
New Hampshire 9,349 1
New Jersey 4,361 2
Connecticut 5,543 1
Delaware 2,489 1
Rhode Island 1,545 1

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Apparently, in the Lower 48, there are 309 regions, and 3,120,426.47 square miles in total area. This means I ended up with very close to 10,000 square miles per region.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Right now I'm calculating how many of these regions went to Biden and how many went to Trump. The Charleston one was so close I had to drag out the calculator to be sure.
265,061 Biden, 267,225 Trump...

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Moving east to west. Next up is GA, FL, then the states going north to south from MI to AL...

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

One pattern I've seen so far:
New York, Maine, and Maryland are the only multi-region states in which Trump won less regions in % terms than he won raw votes in % terms (so far). Meanwhile, in a range of states that voted for Biden by single digits, Trump won the vast majority of regions. He won 5/6 of regions in Pennsylvania, 4/6 in Michigan and 5/7 in Georgia. He won 4/6 in Wisconsin.
In narrowly Trump states, he generally did even better. In FL, he won 6/8, and NC, he took 6/7. However, in NC's case, Biden was far behind only in 2 of them.
This is not surprising, given equal-area and all. Trump areas will have generally less population and cover more space on the map...

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

How the regions in NC voted, so named for their most populous counties.

1=Pitt
2=New Hanover
3=Wake
4=Cumberland
5=Guilford
6=Mecklenburg
7=Buncombe
          1          2           3          4        5           6          7

1992	Clinton	Clinton	Clinton	Clinton	Bush	Bush	Bush
1996	Clinton	Dole	Clinton	Clinton	Dole	Dole	Dole
2000	Bush	Bush	Bush	Gore	Bush	Bush	Bush
2004	Bush	Bush	Bush	Bush	Bush	Bush	Bush
2008	McCain	McCain	Obama	Obama	McCain	McCain	McCain
2012	Romney	Romney	Obama	Obama	Romney	Romney	Romney
2016	Trump	Trump	Clinton	Clinton	Trump	Trump	Trump
2020	Trump	Trump	Biden	Trump	Trump	Trump	Trump

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Everything East of the Mississippi has been done.
Biden regions/Trump regions (Total # of regions [in given Census region])
New England 8/1 (9)
Middle Atlantic 9/6 (15)
NE overall: 17/7 (24)

South Atlantic 12/27 (39)
East North Central 7/25 (32)
East South Central 4/21 (25)
Overall: 40/80 (120)

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Completed.

New England 8/1 (9)
Middle Atlantic 9/6 (15)
NE overall: 17/7 (24)

South Atlantic 13/27 (40)
East South Central 4/21 (25)
West South Central 8/34 (42)
S overall: 25/82 (107)

East North Central 7/25 (32)
West North Central 8/42 (50)
MW overall: 15/67 (82)

Mountain 14/56 (70)
Pacific 22/16 (38)
W overall: 36/72 (108)

I added in DC as I figure it would be a region as well, due to its special status.

National total: 93/228 (321)

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I suppose that if we're going down the path of France departments, then US territories also should count as regions too.

Puerto Rico+Virgin Islands together form the region of Leeward-Antilles.
Guam+the Mariana Islands together form the region of Mariana.
American Samoa forms the region of Western Samoa.
This takes us to 324 regions in total.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

So, 68 French departments are named for rivers, 12 for a mountain or mountain range, 6 for islands, one for a compass point, another for its precise location, and one for something miscellaneous. There are 101 of them in total.

There are 324 regions here, so these numbers can be largely scaled up by a factor of three.

[Schiff for Senate]

For one thing, Clark County, NV, should absolutely be its own region and should not get lumped in with that random rural county, Lincoln.