Someone mentioned in the comments the other day that it's high time the House increased in size; it's become increasingly unrepresentative and unaccountable. I've done a series of Canada-style diaries (and plan to continue it), where the size of a district is shrunk to a mere 110,000, bringing the house to 2,806 members. While that would be great, it may be too much too fast. So I thought I'd try just doubling the size of the House to 870 members. Under this system, Wyoming, Vermont and North Dakota would still only get 1 district; Alaska would be the first state to have two.
I thought I'd start things off with New Mexico and Idaho.
New Mexico
New Mexico get 5 districts.
District 1 (Blue)
VAP: 37.1 White, 53.2 Hispanic
67.1 Obama, 61.8 average Dem performace
+105
Albuquerque. Probably would be a better district for Eric Griego than the current NM-01. Safe D
District 2 (Green)
VAP: 33.9 White, 32.7 Hispanic, 30.9 Native
65.7 Obama, 62.2 Dem
-190
Practically every Native American hub (sorry Mescalero Apaches!) and Santa Fe. Current Rep. Ben R. Luján would probably want to run in this district, but he may have stiff competition from a Native politician. Safe D
District 3 (Purple)
VAP: 58.3 White, 33.0 Hispanic
54.1 Obama, 48.1 Dem
+392
Remainders of Albuquerque and Santa Fe County, Rio Rancho and San Miguel County. Possibly a better district for Marty Chavez than the current NM-01 Tossup/Tilt D?
District 4 (Red)
VAP: 43 White, 52.4 Hispanic
58 Obama, 54.9 Dem
-513
Z-shaped district from Los Alamos all the way down to Las Cruces. Likely D
District 5 (Yellow)
VAP: 53.8 White, 40.1 Hispanic
37.9 Obama, 37 Dem
+205
Clovis, Roswell and Hobbs. A good district for Steve Pearce. Safe R
So instead of the current 2-1, this creates a 3-1-1, with the tossup favoring Democrats.
Idaho
Idaho gets 4 districts. Only 2 counties split! I'm pretty happy.
District 1 (Blue)
VAP: 88.5 White, 5.9 Hispanic
46.8 Obama
+469
Funnily enough, Ada County alone is almost perfect for a district under Doubling. Raúl Labrador lives in this district but would probably rather run in District 2 or 3 under this map. A decent Democrat by Idaho's standards could win in this district without too much difficulty. Lean D?
District 2 (Green)
VAP: 77.9 White, 18.4 Hispanic
29.8 Obama
-46
Dominated by Nampa and Twin Falls. Safe R
District 3 (Purple)
VAP: 92.3 White
37.7 Obama
-610
The Panhandle. Safe R
District 4 (Red)
VAP: 87.2 White, 9 Hispanic
31.1 Obama
+185
Dominated by Pocatello and Idaho Falls. Mike Simpson lives here and would be even safer than in his current district. Safe R
So from 0-2 to 1?-3.
Hope you like the concept!