The Maps Are Coming! The Maps Are Coming!

Minnesota’s political junkies and elected U.S. House Representatives are eagerly awaiting the release of redistricting lines approved by a five-judge panel later today.

According to the 2010 Census, more Minnesotans moved out of the cities and into the suburbs, causing massive shifts in population in some congressional districts.

Gary Gross at Examiner.com breaks it down for us.

Each district must have 662,991 people in it.

District 1: in southern Minnesoat, mostly rural communities, must decrease by 18,204 people, currently held by Rep. Tim Walz (DFL)

District 2: mostly 2nd tier suburbs of the Twin Cities, must decrease by 69,524 people, currently held by Rep. John Kline (R)

District 3: 1st tier suburbs of the Twin Cities, must decrease by 12,806 people
currently held by Rep. Erik Paulsen (R)

District 4: St. Paul, South St. Paul and White Bear Lake, must increase by 48,367 people, currently held by Rep. Betty McCollum (DFL)

District 5: Minneapolis, St. Louis Park, Robbinsdale, must increase by 46,509 people, currently held by Rep. Keith Ellison (DFL)

District 6: Suburbs and outlying rural areas, St. Cloud, must decrease by 96,457 people, currently held by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R)

District 7: rural northwest Minnesota, must increase by 37,479 people, currently held by Rep. Collin Peterson (DFL)

District 8: “Iron Range” in northeast Minnesota, Duluth, must increase by 2,649 people, currently held by Rep. Chip Cravaack (R)

Govtrack.us has an interactive map by district here: Congressional Map

Obviously there is an enormous opportunity for Republican candidates to pick up seats in areas outside the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, though Duluth could continue to prove problematic for the GOP.

The new district maps are sure to cause a stir among DFL’ers and GOP alike.
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THE MAPS ARE COMING!
Map Party in the Twin Cities

Happy hour, panel discussion and Q&A for the general public regarding redistricting maps in Minnesota

When: Tuesday, February 21 7pm
Where: Poor Richard’s Common House, Bloomington, MN
Who: Elected officials, media gurus, bloggers and political activists are confirmed to attend. Everyone is invited!
RSVP: not necessary, please join us!

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