Sunday, September 26, 2010

No Gain, No Loss


Election Data Services projects that Maryland will neither gain nor lose a seat in congressional reapportionment this year. Based on ESRI's unofficial estimates--not the official census numbers that have yet to be released--Maryland's eighth district will be the 409th to be awarded while the U.S. House would need to have 462 seats for us to gain a ninth district.

As the map shows, most of the losers are in the region of the country formerly known as the Rust Belt. However, MPW has decided to rename this group as Climate Challenged in honor of the addition of Louisiana. The other states are traditionally labeled the Sun Belt but that somehow doesn't seem right with the inclusion of rainy Seattle.