Congressional Quarterly Announces a New Map that Shows 2008 Presidential Election Results by Congressional District

April 6, 2009

New CQ Politics map helps define the political battlefield in the House for 2010

WASHINGTON, April 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Congressional Quarterly Inc., the nation's premier provider of news, analysis and information on Congress, politics and public policy, today announced the launch of a new interactive map that shows the results of the 2008 presidential election by congressional district. The exclusive map and analysis can be found on CQ Politics at http://innovation.cqpolitics.com/atlas/district_08.

The analysis, prepared by CQ Politics senior writer Greg Giroux, powers a data-driven interactive map that enables users to find out how a certain district voted in last fall's presidential election. It also provides information on the district's Member of Congress, including party affiliation and percentage of the vote in the previous cycle. As a result, the map offers clues into which districts the political parties are likely to target in the 2010 midterm elections, among other insights.

"Presidential election results, classified by congressional district, are not readily available after the election or easily determined," said Michael Riley, senior vice president and editor of CQ. "State elections boards typically report political information, including election results, by county and not by congressional district. Thanks to Greg's meticulous efforts, we've created a powerful map that helps define the political battlefield for 2010."

The CQ Politics' analysis and map show that some of the most competitive congressional races of 2010 could take place in districts where voters split their ballots.

The analysis shows that out of 435 congressional districts, there are 49 that favored Democrats for the House of Representatives and Republican John McCain for the White House. Republican strategists will be targeting these districts as they attempt to gain seats in the House in 2010, the midpoint of President Obama's term. The GOP needs a net gain of 40 seats to win control of the chamber.

On the flip side, there are 34 districts that favored Obama for president while supporting Republican House members. Democratic strategists will be looking at many of these districts to help increase their majority.

Combined, these "Obama-Republican" and "McCain-Democratic" districts amount to 83 districts, which is 19 percent of all House seats. The number of split districts is historically low: Since 1952, only the 2004 presidential election produced fewer split districts than the 2008 presidential election. Still, these 83 districts will likely shape up to be some of the most heavily targeted in 2010.

About Congressional Quarterly Inc.

With more than 160 reporters, editors and researchers covering Capitol Hill and Washington, CQ keeps its readers updated in print and online on a weekly, daily and real-time basis. With a readership that includes nearly every member of Congress, as well as Executive Branch officials, leaders in business and associations, top academic institutions and important media outlets, Congressional Quarterly provides opinion leaders with comprehensive, credible, current and objective information on Congress, politics and public policy. CQ's award-winning product line includes: CQ Weekly, CQ Today, CQ.com, CQ Politics, CQ Homeland Security, CQ Budget Tracker, CQ HealthBeat, CQ MoneyLine and Governing Magazine. CQ is owned by the Times Publishing Co. of St. Petersburg, Fla., publisher of the St. Petersburg Times and other publications. For more information, visit www.cq.com or www.cqpolitics.com.

SOURCE Congressional Quarterly Inc.