8. What is a competitive district?

Rose Institute:

A competitive district is one that may change hands without changing lines: in one or more elections, the Republican candidate could win, and, in the same district, in another election or elections the Democratic candidate could win. At a basic level, this is the goal of the "competitiveness" advocates: a district that changes representation as the voting preferences of the voter's change. Reform advocates want competitive districts because they continue to represent voter preferences even when voter preferences change. Looking at past redistricting plans, the Rose Institute identified those districts that elected Democrats in one election and Republicans in another. In attempting to predict competitiveness, the Rose Institute used two measures. The first measure used is voter registration: we considered a district competitive if it was between five percent Republican advantage and ten percent Democratic advantage. The second measure used is the 2000 Presidential vote: we considered a district competitive if the vote was less than a ten percent advantage for either candidate. Highly competitive districts (the numbers most commonly cited from our report) met both measures.

Pro / Con:

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