Philadelphia: the map the court threw out

Pennsylvania's 2011 congressional map is one of the most famous partisan gerrymanders in American history. Republicans won 13 of the state's 18 seats while losing the statewide popular vote, and in League of Women Voters v. Pennsylvania (2018) the state Supreme Court struck the map down as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander and ordered it redrawn.

Greater Philadelphia is where the trick lived. The city's overwhelming Democratic vote was packed into two safe seats, while the suburban collar counties were cracked into districts like the 7th, an ink-blot shape so contorted it was nicknamed 'Goofy kicking Donald Duck', each drawn to hold a thin Republican majority.

You are playing the Democrats. Greater Philadelphia votes about 67 percent Democratic, but the 2011 map bottled that up: two packed city seats and cracked suburbs. Draw the lines so the region's majority wins most of the districts.

Democrats 50.3%, Republicans 48.8%. Pennsylvania's 2012 US House popular vote. Republicans won 13 of the 18 seats.

The 2011 map, 2016 vote: the city packed into two deep-blue seats, the coin-flip suburbs drawn to elect Republicans, including the 'Goofy kicking Donald Duck' 7th.

The 2011 map, 2016 vote: the city packed into two deep-blue seats, the coin-flip suburbs drawn to elect Republicans, including the 'Goofy kicking Donald Duck' 7th.

League of Women Voters v. Pennsylvania (Wikipedia)

Pennsylvania's 7th district, 2011 (Wikipedia)