Puerto Rico Congressional Districts

[Verily]

I basically just had fun with this one. If Puerto Rico were made a state, it would have 5 Congressional districts (it falls just behind Oregon in population). The map is based on the 2000 Puerto Rico Census, and no district boundary crosses a municipal line. Districts vary from 789,620 people (3) to 777,165 (1), the closest I could get without crossing municipal borders.



My best guess is that 3 and 4 would be Safe Dem, 2 would be Likely Dem, 5 would be Lean Dem and 1 would be Likely GOP, but, as the Democrats and Republicans don't exist in Puerto Rico, it's hard to say. Also, if Puerto Rico becomes a state before the 2010 census, it would likely gain another seat in the 2010 census.

[True Federalist]

You have incorrect infromation.  Puerto Rico has more people than Oregon, not less.  I've done the math before and Puerto Rico would have ended up with 6 districts not 5 had it been a state in 2000 and based on current estimates, it would have 6 seats it it be a state in 2010.  Here is an earlier post I did on this back in 2004.  Puerto Rico would have taken one seat each away from NC, CA, OH, FL, IA, and GA had it been a State and the House kept at 435 members.

[Conan]

PR will never become a state. I dont believe it would go over well for Americans who are going to lose representation to them either, especially conservatives who will lose influence in congress to people who speak spanish and have darker skin.

[Senator Fritz]

I disagree, PR will become a state someday.  The resistance to this happening is coming from within PR, not from the States.

[Conan]

I disagree, PR will become a state someday.  The resistance to this happening is coming from within PR, not from the States.

You'd bet there'd be resistance here if they'd start up with it. Conservatives would never tolerate it.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

I disagree, PR will become a state someday.  The resistance to this happening is coming from within PR, not from the States.

You'd bet there'd be resistance here if they'd start up with it. Conservatives would never tolerate it.

The current Congressional Delegate from PR is a conservative, caucuses with the Republicans, and is 'tolerated' just fine.  The conservative party in PR (NPP) is the pro-statehood party, while liberals support the status quo and socialists and whackos support independence from the U.S.

[sethm0]

 One of my roommates in college was from PR is is very knowledgable about the politics there. The two main parties there - one that advocates statehood and one that advocates status quo - are not aligned with the Democratic or Republican parties.

 It is true that the current congressional delegate identifies with the Republican party in Washington, but this is an aberration. The vast majority of the people of PR would be Democrats, as would most or all of their congressional representatives.

 I like to be an optimist and think that one day PR will be granted statehood - I'm ideologically opposed to holding territories without giving them equal representation. I think Conan has a good point though. Cultural conservatives would go nuts over accepting a state where the majority of the population does not speak English, and Republicans would not want to risk losing congressional seats.

[True Democrat]

Puerto Rico seems a lot like Hawaii in that it would be a very pro-incumbent state.

[nclib]

Puerto Ricans in America are arguably the most Democratic ethnic group in the U.S., so the likelihood would be that if PR became a state, that most, if not all, of its representatives would be Democrats.

[Conan]

I disagree, PR will become a state someday.  The resistance to this happening is coming from within PR, not from the States.

You'd bet there'd be resistance here if they'd start up with it. Conservatives would never tolerate it.

The current Congressional Delegate from PR is a conservative, caucuses with the Republicans, and is 'tolerated' just fine.  The conservative party in PR (NPP) is the pro-statehood party, while liberals support the status quo and socialists and whackos support independence from the U.S.

I am not talking about the delegation being conservative. The last delegate was a Dem caucuser. Anyway I am talking about American (not Puerto Ricans) conservatives. They wont be accepted by the average conservative citizen.