I just did two attempted gerrymanders of Arizona in a previous diary, but a few commenters said I didn't go far enough to be an full-on gerrymander of the state and that it's a much easier just to shore up the 5 incoming Democratic incumbents than try to also draw a 6th district which Democrats could win in a really good year. So I decided to follow those pieces of advice in this follow-up diary, even to the point of using touch-point contiguity of Congressional districts, a very difficult thing to do when you can't split precincts.
More below the fold.
I warn you...it's really crazy!
AZ-01 (blue): Rep.-Elect Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Flagstaff)
VAP (voting age population): 50.1% White, 21.5% Native American, 21.3% Hispanic, 3.3% Black, 2.3% Asian
56.0% Obama-42.7% McCain
55.8% Avg D/44.2% Avg R
Oh yes, it's so blue now because I used AZ-04 (the red district) to take in red territory from the actual AZ-01 in Graham, Greenlee, Apache, Navajo, and Coconio Counties (all of which are kept whole in the actual AZ-01). I had AZ-01 worm southwards using the territory of the White Mountain Apache Tribe and the Chiricahua Apache Tribe as a blue bridge. It gets all of Casa Grande in Pinal County and takes more of the bluish part of Mesa in Maricopa County on its way north to take in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Tribal Community, and the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation. With 23.7% of the total population in this district being Native American, it's likely the upper limit for how much you can draw together the various tribal communities in Arizona without splitting precincts.
AZ-04 (red): Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Prescott)
No need for racial and partisan statistics because I used this district like a sponge to absorb as much red territory as possible from red districts. Obama got 32.5% here in 2008, Dems in general get 31.1%, and it goes to EVERY county in the state except little Santa Cruz County way down south. I used this district to help make AZ-01 and AZ-02 quite a bit bluer. In order for it to work, I had to use touch-point contiguity in the western reaches of Maricopa County by allowing it to criss-cross with AZ-03 at a juncture in the precincts flanking Interstate 10. Touch-point contiguity is tricky to do with irregular-shaped precincts, but I got it done.
Let's zoom in on southern Arizona to see how AZ-02 and AZ-03 use Pima and Yuma County.
AZ-02 (green): Rep. Ron Barber (D-Tucson)
VAP: 66.3% White, 24.5% Hispanic, 3.3% Black, 3.3% Asian, 0.9% Native American
51.1% Obama-47.7% McCain
50.0% Avg D/50.0% Avg R (slight Dem lead)
In order to get even bluer, it lost much of rural Cochise County, Oro Valley, and Marana to AZ-04. It also picks up all of Santa Cruz County.
AZ-03 (dark magenta): Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Tucson)
VAP: 54.9% Hispanic, 35.8% White, 3.8% Black, 3.1% Native American, 1.5% Asian
56.2% Obama-42.7% McCain
56.9% Avg D/43.1% Avg R
A hair less Dem than the actual AZ-03, it extends a finger directly into the core of Phoenix to avoid reddening due to it losing a little of Tucson.
Let's zoom in on Maricopa County to get a better look on the remaining five districts.
AZ-05 (gold): Rep.-Elect Matt Salmon (R-Mesa)
This red district takes in what's left of Mesa and parts of Pinal County.
AZ-06 (teal): Rep. David Schweikert (R-Fountain Hills)
This red district still contains Scweikert's home of Fountain Hills and the northernmost part of Phoenix. It also takes the remnants of Pinal County via the easternmost reaches of Maricopa County. I would guess that Ben Quayle could run here, but I doubt he would after he got beat bad in the primary this year.
AZ-07 (dark grey): Rep. Ed Pastor (D-Phoenix)
VAP: 52.2% Hispanic, 33.2% White, 8.7% Black, 3.0% Asian, 1.4% Native American
58.7% Obama-40.2% McCain
59.8% Avg D/40.2% Avg R
This district becomes a bit tricky for him as it lost some of its deep-blue core to AZ-03. But nonetheless, it's still very blue.
AZ-08 (slate blue): Rep. Trent Franks (R-Glendale)
I had Trent Franks take back some of his pre-redistricting territory in Mohave County. I also gave him rural parts of Yavapai and Le Paz County. As for Maricopa County, it only barely contains any of his hometown of Glendale, which is shared with AZ-07.
AZ-09 (cyan): Rep.-Elect Kyrsten Sinema (D-Phoenix)
VAP: 62.5% White, 24.1% Hispanic, 5.0% Black, 4.4% Asian, 2.3% Native American
52.3% Obama-46.4% McCain
50.8% Avg D/49.2% Avg R
Finally, we have AZ-09, which I made a point more Democratic than the real AZ-09. It has all of Tempe and takes in some of the northern areas of Phoenix. It is specifically designed to take in as many remaining blue precincts as possible. Democrats should be relatively secure here.
Below is a map of the likely partisan results of this purely hypothetical map. Dems get less geographic area, but they get tighter holds on their five districts.