I originally tried for 5-2-1, but it just wasn't in the cards. Get it? Good.
My goals were as follows: all Dem seats at least D+2.5 or so, don't split St Louis City more than once, keep towns/cities together unless there's a good reason to split them, and elect lots of Democrats!
The VRA is ignored here.
Also, feel free to give suggestions for who you think should run and in which seats (I want Lacy Clay out of Congress for what he did to Carnahan)
MO-1:
For all the talk about how Republican St Charles County is and such, it's incredibly easy to drown it out. Nearly the entire county is here, as is North St Louis County and some swingy areas along the Illinois border.
2008: D+4
Avg (assuming MO is about an R+3 state, since there are still a few conservaDems) D+5.5
MO-2:
North St Louis, some suburbs, and then the hyperconservative Todd Akin areas. Also some exurbs and less bad (R+5 or so) rural counties
2008: D+5
Avg: D+3
MO-3: Russ Carnahan
Carnahan gets a very nice district here, it's nearly the same as his old one, although basically by accident. South St Louis, some suburbs, Jefferson and St Genevieve (which I'm assuming is heavily unionized) counties.
2008: D+5
Avg: D+6
MO-4: Sam Graves vs Blaine Luetkemeyer
The first, and ugliest, vote sink. I don't think any town in this district has 15,000 people or more, although half of Jefferson City is here (it's remarkably conservative for a state capital).
2008: R+16
Avg: R+14
MO-5: Emanuel Cleaver
Cleaver loses quite a bit of Kansas City (and security), but he screwed us on redistricting too, so whatever. The key here is going to Springfield (which has way more liberal Whites than I imagined) to keep the district safe for a liberal. Could still fall in a wave, but probably not.
2008: D+3
Avg: D+3.5
MO-6:
From St Joseph, along the border into some not so red suburbs and much of Kansas City itself, through some conservaDem Skelton areas, and down to Columbia and Jefferson City, this is ugly. I'd be most worried about this one flipping, especially if the rural areas get redder.
2008: D+3
Avg: D+2
MO-7: Vicki Hartzler and Billy Long
Two backbench freshmen get combined here. Tornado devastated and birthplace of my Algebra II teacher in high school Joplin as well as the periphery of Springfield are the population centers here.
2008: R+19
Avg: R+19
MO-8: Jo Ann Emerson
One of two clean districts (along with Carnahans), Emerson, who is an even bigger backbencher than the others in the delegation, gets a safe seat here. I debated excising Cape Girardeau so Limbaugh's hometown would have a Dem representative, but decided against it. Poplar Bluff is the only other sizeable town here (Tyler Hansbrough's home).
2008: R+20
Avg: R+17