The concept of unicameral Congress is an interesting one, with just one house, it would remove some of the gridlock that occurs in the legislative branch. Reynolds vs. Sims only applies at the state level, but it's criteria makes sense for federal office in terms of representation. Of course, it would only be fair to have one house if the districts were drawn fairly. As we have seen with Hungary, one party ceased power of parliament and drew a map that they couldn't lose on, which is a dangerous parable in a unicameral system.
I've based my maps on geography, VRA requirements, compactness and competitiveness (where it is possible and reasonable). Where maps are currently drawn fairly (or fairly for the most part), I have simply modified those real maps by adding two districts to each state.
First up is the mountain west. The mountain west is the old frontier, and it is the new frontier, with a present and future filled with growth. States like Arizona, Colorado and Nevada have seen steadily growth, as well as a rise in political clout, as they become more competitive (with Arizona being less competitive that Colorado and Nevada). New Mexico has become more of Democratic leaning bastion, whereas Idaho, Utah and Wyoming remain strongly Republican, and Montana leans Republican.
Some of my pictures were not as big as I wanted, but I wanted to get this diary up, so I'll fix the size issues later.
Arizona
For Arizona, I tried to maintain the shape of the real map, despite a couple of extra seats being added. The vision of the commission was preserved as best possible, taking into account competitiveness.
AZ-1: Ann Kirkpatrick
48% Obama, 50% McCain
This is not too different than AZ-1 on the real map, save for being more condensed. Kirkpatrick would be in good shape here, considering the similarity to the actual district and the fact that the bulk of the Republican base comes from suburban Tucson, whereas Kirkpatrick has the advantage of being from rural Arizona.
AZ-2: Paul Gosar
34% Obama, 63% McCain
Not much to say about this one, very red seat.
AZ-3: OPEN
46% Obama, 52% McCain
Holding to the competitiveness standard of the commission, this district has a Republican lean, but is not outside the reach of a Democrat like Rebecca Rios or Barbara McGuire. Pinal County is home to some Pinto Democrats.
AZ-4: Matt Salmon
37% Obama, 61% McCain
Yet another heavily Republican seat, and probably one of the most Mormon outside of Utah and Idaho.
AZ-5: OPEN
45% Obama, 53% McCain
Not unlike the district Ben Quayle held that was pretty much dismantled. It sits closest to the statewide presidential percentage and would be secure for a Republican until at least a decade.
AZ-6: Ed Pastor
65% Obama, 32% McCain
Not much to say about this one, very blue seat.
AZ-7: Raul Grijalva
56% Obama, 43% McCain
AZ-8: Ron Barber
50% Obama, 48% McCain
Barber would be pleased with this seat, which would provide him a bigger cushion in close races.
AZ-9: Kyrsten Sinema
51% Obama, 47% McCain
Pretty much the same as on the real map. Not a huge Obama margin, but good enough for an Arizona Democrat to hold.
AZ-10: Trent Franks
41% Obama, 57% McCain
I'm not sure if Franks lives here, but it includes territory from his current district, so I assume he'd run here.
AZ-11: Dave Schweikert
35% Obama, 63% McCain
Not much to say about this one, very red seat.
Colorado
Again, I was going for similarities to the current map, with more seats added.
CO-1: Diana DeGette
76% Obama, 21% McCain
Yeah, it's Denver, enough said.
CO-2: Jared Polis
61% Obama, 37% McCain
It's got Boulder in it, so we have an inkling of how secure it is for Democrats.
CO-3: OPEN
54% Obama, 45% McCain
Finally, things get interesting. Pueblo weighs heavily on this district, giving it a slight Democratic lean. John Salazar would win easily here.
CO-4: Doug Lamborn
37% Obama, 61% McCain
Heavily red seat.
CO-5: Corey Gardner
41% Obama, 56% McCain
Not exactly compact, but population distribution requires that rural counties to the east be attached to more populated areas around Colorado Springs.
CO-6: OPEN
47% Obama, 51% McCain
Yet another seat where rural counties get attached to more populated areas. Can't really be helped much.
CO-7: Mike Coffman
56% Obama, 42% McCain
Coffman would probably be in trouble here.
CO-8: OPEN
57% Obama, 40% McCain
Ed Perlmutter doesn't live here, but I supposed he would consider running here, since it includes much territory he's won before.
CO-9: OPEN
52% Obama, 45% McCain
Quite a swing district, taking in most of Jefferson County.
Idaho
Overall, this is similar to what the state would draw and there aren't many games played with redistricting in Idaho, it's pretty fair for the most part.
ID-1: Raul Labrador
45% Obama, 51% McCain
By Idaho standards, it would be a swing district. Walt Minnick might have possibly won this, even in 2010. Not an easy seat at R+5, but I think a Democrat like Minnick would be hard to dislodge if they captured the seat.
ID-2: OPEN
29% Obama, 68% McCain
Pretty red seat.
ID-3: Mike Simpson
30% Obama, 67% McCain
This probably would give Mike Simpson a little more primary security, but not much.
ID-4: OPEN
36% Obama, 60% McCain
Ancestral Democratic roots in the north help make this the second least Republican district in the state.
Montana
The numbers here are rough, since I had to process them myself, since partisan data isn't available for this state on the redistricting app. I got clean lines and only one split county, which is very fair, I think.
MT-1: OPEN
47% Obama, 48% McCain
I'm labeling every Montana seat as open. A very narrow seat, which has a Republican lean, but cannot be written off for a Montana Democrat. I'd wager that Tester narrowly carried this seat, as well as Bullock.
MT-2: OPEN
50% Obama, 46% McCain
For the most part, Democrats would probably be able to carry this seat outside of very high Republican waves, as it contains much of the reliable Democratic base in the state.
MT-3: OPEN
47% Obama, 51% McCain
Covering the eastern end of the state, this seat would vote reliably Republican, but it wouldn't be outside of the reach of a very rural Democrat with skill.
New Mexico
This is a fair, balanced map that takes into account geography more than anything.
NM-1: Michelle Lujan-Grisham
60% Obama, 38% McCain
This seat shrinks down to mainly just Albuquerque proper, which clearly would have no downside for Democrats.
NM-2: OPEN
57% Obama, 41% McCain
This would succeed NM-1 as the swing playground in the area, as it includes purplish Sandoval County. I wouldn't count a Republican out winning here, but a solid Democratic would be able to hold the seat most years.
NM-3: Steve Pearce
38% Obama, 59% McCain
Set in southeast New Mexico, this becomes the state Republican playground, a fortress that wouldn't waver even in a heavy Democratic wave.
NM-4: OPEN
58% Obama, 40% McCain
This has swing potential, depending on candidates and climate, as it's got some deep red precincts and purple ones as well. Las Cruces showing would be essential to any Democrat winning.
NM-5: Ben Lujan
64% Obama, 34% McCain
Strongest Democratic district in the state, anchored on Santa Fe.
Nevada
This map was drawn to keep lines as tight as possible. Separating rural and urban was a big part of my vision for this series and that is what intended to do.
NV-1: OPEN
54% Obama, 43% McCain
Washoe County practically gets a district to itself. It probably would be problematic for Democrats in off-years in terms of drop out, so if a Democrat did win it, they'd have to work overtime to hold it.
NV-2: Mark Amodei/Joe Heck
40% Obama, 56% McCain
Cow counties and anything not Las Vegas or Reno. Henderson ends up here (or least it looks like that to me), which means Joe Heck and Mark Amodei are in the same seat, but I doubt Heck would run here. With such a high Republican percentage, Sharron Angle might get in the mix, but I'm not sure Republican primary voters would be keen on her after he failure to defeat Reid.
NV-3: OPEN
56% Obama, 41% McCain
I don't believe any incumbent lives here, but Joe Heck may opt for it, since it contains some of the territory he's represented and it's got a lower Obama percentage than other area seats.
NV-4: Dina Titus
70% Obama, 27% McCain
Contains most of the city of Las Vegas.
NV-5: OPEN
57% Obama, 40% McCain
Leans Democratic, but not out of reach for a Republican in a wave.
NV-6: Stephen Horsford
59% Obama, 39% McCain
Pulls out of the cow counties and condenses in Clark County only.
Utah
Utah gets a couple of interesting seats on the this map.
UT-1: Rob Bishop
29% Obama, 68% McCain
Super Republican district in the northernmost part of the state.
UT-2: OPEN
30% Obama, 67% McCain
Davis County paired with some rural parts of the state.
UT-3: Jason Chaffetz
19% Obama, 78% McCain
Would be the most Republican district in the country.
UT-4: Jim Matheson
59% Obama, 37% McCain
Things finally get interesting. This district might have narrowly voted for Obama in 2012, but I would bet that it went to Romney. Still, it would be won by Matheson easily, but might not win a primary or convention here, as Salt Lake City Democrats are quite liberal.
UT-5: OPEN
43% Obama, 54% McCain
This is slightly better than Matheson's current seat and this might be an option for him as opposed to the more liberal UT-4. The DCCC would prefer him here, anyway, as he could win such a seat.
UT-6: OPEN
24% Obama, 73% McCain
Mia Love would certainly win this heavily Republican seat that connects rural areas and suburbs. Since so much of the state's population lives on the Wasatch Front, it's unavoidable to mix rural and suburban, so a portion of Salt Lake County goes here.
Wyoming
One potentially interesting seat forms in Wyoming.
WY-1: Cynthia Lummis
40% Obama, 58% McCain
This looks a little weird, but it made sense to put together the only two areas in the state classified by the census as urban, Casper and Cheyenne. Gary Trauner carried this seat in 2006 and 2008, so it is possible a Democrat could win it if some teabagger was able to displace Lummis in the primary.
WY-2: OPEN
33% Obama, 63% McCain
Nothing much to see here, very red district, but at the very least, we might get a somewhat sensible Republican here.
WY-3: OPEN
24% Obama, 73% McCain
Nothing to see here, very red district.
