US Political Represetation State By State
-- David Swink, FCTA board member / 2025-08-15
The current Texas redistricting uproar caused me to investigate how accurately each of the 50 states' US Congressional apportionment reflects the political views of that state's population. Voting statistics from the 2024 prsedential election were considered, but deemed too inaccurate due to the inflammatory nature of that election.
Well then, why not just consider the political balance of a state's legislature?! The people have chosen representatives in each chamber that supposedly reflect their overall political views; so let's imagine each state's allocated number of US Congressmen reapportioned by political party based on each party's representation in that state's house, and perhaps the senate as well. This was done in the table below (with fractionals rounded to the nearest integer).
By Party: 2024 US Congress | 2025 State House | 2025 State Senate -------------------------------+-------------------+------------------- Alabama: 2D + 5R = 7 | R76-29 => 0 | R27-8 => 0 Alaska: 0D + 1R = 1 | R21-19 => 0 | R14-6 => 0 Arizona: 2D + 7R = 9 | R33-27 => +2D | R17-13 => +2D Arkansas: 0D + 4R = 4 | R81-19 => +1D | R29-6 => +1D California: 43D + 9R = 52 | D60-20 => +4R | D30-10 => +4R Colorado: 4D + 4R = 8 | D43-22 => +1D | D23-12 => +1D Connecticut: 5D + 0R = 5 | D102-49 => +2R | D25-11 => +2R Delaware: 1D + 0R = 1 | D27-14 => 0 | D15-6 => 0 Florida: 8D + 20R = 28 | R87-33 => 0 | R28-12 => 0 Georgia: 5D + 9R = 14 | R100-80 => +1D | R33-23 => +1D Hawaii: 2D + 0R = 2 | D42-9 => 0 | D22-3 => 0 Idaho: 0D + 2R = 2 | R61-9 => 0 | R29-6 => 0 Illinois: 15D + 2R = 17 | D78-40 => +4R | D40-19 => +3R Indiana: 2D + 5R = 7 | R70-30 => 0 | R40-10 => +1R Iowa: 0D + 4R = 4 | R67-33 => +1D | R34-16 => +1D Kansas: 1D + 3R = 4 | R88-37 => 0 | R31-9 => 0 Kentucky: 1D + 5R = 6 | R80-20 => 0 | R32-6 => 0 Louisiana: 2D + 4R = 6 | R71-34 => 0 | R27-12 => 0 Maine: 2D + 0R = 2 | D77-74 => +1R | D20-15 => +1R Maryland: 7D + 1R = 8 | D102-39 => +1R | D34-13 => +1R Massachusetts: 9D + 0R = 9 | D134-26 => +1R | D35-5 => +1R Michigan: 6D + 7R = 13 | R58-52 => 0 | R20–18 => 0 Minnesota: 4D + 4R = 8 | T67-67 => 0 | D34-33 => 0 Mississippi: 1D + 3R = 4 | R80-42 => 0 | R36-16 => 0 Missouri: 2D + 5R = 7 | R111-52 => 0 | R24-10 => 0 Montana: 0D + 2R = 2 | R58-42 => +1D | R32-18 => +1D Nebraska: 0D + 3R = 3 | R33-16 => +1D | R33-16 => +1D Nevada: 3D + 1R = 4 | D27-15 => 0 | D13-8 => +1R New Hampshire: 2D + 0R = 2 | D222-178 => +1R | D16-8 => 0 New Jersey: 9D + 3R = 12 | D52-28 => +1R | D25-15 => +1R New Mexico: 3D + 0R = 3 | D44-26 => +1R | D26-16 => +1R New York: 19D + 7R = 26 | D103-47 => +1R | D41-22 => +2R North Carolina: 4D + 10R = 14 | R71-49 => +2D | R30-20 => +2D North Dakota: 0D + 1R = 1 | R83-11 => 0 | R42-5 => 0 Ohio: 5D + 10R = 15 | R65-34 => 0 | R24-9 => +1R Oklahoma: 0D + 5R = 5 | R81-20 => +1D | R40-8 => +1D Oregon: 5D + 1R = 6 | D36-24 => +1R | D18-12 => +1R Pennsylvania: 7D + 10R = 17 | R102-101 => +1D | R27-23 => +1D Rhode Island: 2D + 0R = 2 | D64-11 => 0 | D34-4 => 0 South Carolina: 1D + 6R = 7 | R88-36 => +1D | R34-12 => +1D South Dakota: 0D + 1R = 1 | R64-6 => 0 | R32-3 => 0 Tennessee: 1D + 8R = 9 | R75-24 => +1D | R27-6 => +1D Texas: 9D + 23R = 32 | R88-62 => +4D | R20-11 => +2D Utah: 0D + 4R = 4 | R61-14 => +1D | R22-7 => +1D Vermont: 1D + 0R = 1 | D90-60 => 0 | D16-14 => 0 Virginia: 5D + 6R = 11 | D51-49 => +1D | D21-19 => +1D Washington: 8D + 2R = 10 | D59-39 => +2R | D30-19 => +2R West Virginia: 0D + 2R = 2 | R91-9 => 0 | R32-2 => 0 Wisconsin: 2D + 6R = 8 | R54-45 => +2D | R18-15 => +2D Wyoming: 0D + 1R = 1 | R56-6 => 0 | R28-2 => 0 -------------------------------+-------------------+------------------- Totals: 211D +215R =426 | +2D | +2R |
The results were somewhat surprising. Most states' calculated political balance either matched the current US Congressional balance or were off by one in either direction. And, overall, red states were as equally guilty of imbalances as the blue states. Total state house changes netted two in one direction and total state senate changes netted two in the other direction.
So yes, redistricting and gerrymandering are serious issues and should be taken seriously; but the overall 50-state political apportionments will likely not drift too far from what's considered "fair".