New Mexico: cracking the oil patch
New Mexico votes Democratic by ten points, but its southeast corner is another world: oil country settled from Texas, so deeply red it is nicknamed Little Texas.
For a decade the map, below, respected that split. Two blue districts covered the north and the middle, and the 2nd held the south, electing Republicans almost without interruption.
In a December 2021 special session the legislature redrew it. The new map, below, cracks the oil patch between the districts and pushes part of Albuquerque's blue South Valley into the 2nd. On paper, all three districts now lean Democratic.
It worked, barely: Gabe Vasquez unseated Republican Yvette Herrell by 1,350 votes in 2022, then held her off again in 2024. A judge found the legislature had intentionally diluted Republican votes, and let the map stand anyway: real, he ruled, but not 'egregious' enough to strike down.
You are playing the Republicans. Ten points down statewide, you still own the southeast: keep the oil patch whole, pack the blue north into as few seats as possible, and win a majority of the three districts.
Biden 54.3%, Trump 43.5%. New Mexico's 2020 presidential vote.
The old map, shaded by the 2020 vote: two blue districts in the north and centre, and a safely red 2nd across the south.
The 2021 map: the southeast's red counties are split up, a slice of blue Albuquerque is pushed south into the 2nd, and all three districts lean Democratic.