Behold, a one-stop shop of complete PVI and voter registration numbers for the 58 counties and 177 legislative districts of the great state of California. Analysis is below the fold. But first, the numbers!
Partisan voting index (PVI)
This spreadsheet contains the full set of PVI data based on the last two presidential elections. The election results are raw percentages, and the PVI is based on the national Democratic two-party performance (aka Cook's definition). PVI numbers are color-coded to indicate party and partisan shift. Negative numbers indicate Republican inclinations, while positive numbers indicate Democratic leanings. PVIs between R+2 and D+2 are coded in yellow. There are different sheets for counties, congressional districts, state legislative districts, and the State Board of Equalization (SBOE) districts. 2008 numbers are taken from Meridian Pacific, a GOP consulting firm, while the 2012 numbers are taken from the California Secretary of State.
If you want the short and sweet version, here are the PVIs for the counties and legislative districts, without all that the extraneous stuff.
Voter registration numbers
This spreadsheet is similarly structured as the PVI spreadsheet, except this uses data from the three most recent dates: September 7, 2012; October 22, 2012; and February 10, 2013. The September numbers show the voter registration standings right before online voter registration was allowed on September 19. The October numbers show the voter registration of the November electorate (October 22 being the registration cutoff date). The February numbers are the most recent numbers and will be the last set published by the Secretary of State until next year.
Rather than using some complicated formula, I simply used subtraction (arithmetic! onoz!) to show the shift in the two-party voter registration share and the change in no-party-preference (NPP, California's name for independents, used to be called decline-to-state or DTS) registration, all on one side of the spreadsheet.
Important: For the even-numbered state senate districts, the names listed under the "Senator" column do not necessarily correspond to the actual senator currently in that seat. Since state senate elections are staggered, elections for odd-numbered seats were held in 2012 and these senators represent the new post-2011 redistricting districts. Elections for even-numbered seats were last held in 2010 in the old pre-redistricting configurations and senators in these seats continue to represent the old districts. The districts in the spreadsheets of this diary refer to the new districts, and the first elections for the new even-numbered seats will be held in 2014. Any names listed on these spreadsheets for the even-numbered seats therefore refer to the closest corresponding successor district.
Read More