Thursday, September 7, 2023

Wisconsin gerrymandering spotlight on Assembly District 91: Packing Eau Claire (chapter 3)

 
What's wrong with this picture?

Packing Eau Claire!  As we recently saw here and here.
    
Source:  Wikipedia 

The UW Applied Population Lab defines 'cracking' as 
drawing districts in such a way as to divide a concentration of specific types of voters across several districts such that they are a minority in each one, with practically no hope of achieving representation in any of the districts. This practice also helps make districts less competitive. [emphasis added]
The UW Applied Population Lab defines 'packing' as 
the practice of drawing particular districts in such a way as to ensure that another party's candidate wins that seat by a tremendous margin. Although the opposing party is all but guaranteed the seat, packing makes surrounding districts less competitive, and thus tips the balance of power in the legislative body overall toward the ruling party.

The 91st Assembly District includes most of the City of Eau Claire, which has a population of 70,000, twice the number of residents that live elsewhere in Eau Claire County.  Jodi Emerson (D-Eau Claire) has represented the district since January 2019.   Jodi defeated her GOP challenger by nearly 30 percentage points.


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