I Finally Figure It Out: Senate Redistricting Data Hidden, Not Missing

[Guide to all the redistricting posts at the Alaska Redistricting Board tab above or here.]


Where's the Senate Data?

The Alaska Redistricting Board announced they had received the Census Data needed for redistricting last Tuesday.  On their site they posted a list of Alaska House Districts with data from 2002 and 2010 and how much each district now deviated from the ideal (where every district would have exactly the same population) of 17,755 people.

But I kept waiting for the Senate data.  Eventually, I figured it out.  Each Senate seat is composed of two House seats.  So, the House data is ALSO the Senate data.  But you have to know that and then create the Senate data using the House data.   So that's what I've done in these two charts.    I'm also assuming that the ideal Senate seat is double the ideal House seat.  (There are 20 Senate seats and 40 House seats.)

So I've made two charts.


CHART 1:  Shows the House districts AND their corresponding Senate districts.  For example:  Senate District A is made up of House Districts 1 and 2.  B is made up of 3 and 4  and so on.  It starts with House district 1 through 40 and Senate districts A through T.   The Senate districts are marked with blue (Democratic) or red (Republican) and placed after their House districts. (Controls to enlarge the charts are at the bottom of each chart.)



WARNING - I'm a fallible human being trying to use modern technology to come up with these numbers.  So, use with caution and double check the numbers if you use them for something important.  If you notice errors, leave a comment and/or  email me.


Redistricting House & Senate Districts
[If you're wondering about the entries in the "2010 % Deviation" column for the Senate seats, you're reading this much more carefully than anyone else.  I used a formula to get the percent, but couldn't figure how to make them read as percent.  So I stuck the percent for Senate districts more clearly in the next column.]


CHART 2:  Shows just the Senate districts.  I've started with the district that has most the people higher than the ideal district size (35,510) and goes down to the closest to the ideal, then goes to the districts below the ideal ending with the district with the most people lower than the ideal size.




Redistricting Senate By Deviation

I haven't figured out what it all means, though I've put a few observations into the second chart. But I figure I should get this out there so others might be able to start making sense of it.

Remember:  Tuesday Public Hearing in Anchorage already.  Wednesday in Wasilla.  Then to Juneau, Ketchikan, Fairbanks, Kotzebue, Bethel, and finally a statewide teleconference based in Anchorage on March 31.  The detailed schedule from the board is here.