Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Little Known Congressional District Facts

I’m sure you’ll agree that congressional district trivia is endlessly fascinating. As an example, let’s look at the two congressional districts that rank as the poorest in the United States.

The poorest congressional district in the nation is New York-16 with a median income of $23,270. The district is located in the Bronx and is represented by Jose Serrano. In addition to being the poorest of our 435 congressional districts, NY-16 is also the most Democrat (Cook rating D+41). It is also the LEAST white congressional district in the United States (2.3% White, 28.2% Black, 66.4% Hispanic, 1.7% Asian).

But before we start drawing too many conclusions on racism in America, let’s look at the second poorest congressional district in the nation: Kentucky-5 with a median income $27,731. The district is located in the Appalachia region of eastern Kentucky and is represented by Republican Hal Rogers. While the district is not the most Republican in the nation, it has a solid R+16 Cook rating. In addition to being the second poorest of our 435 congressional districts, KY-5 is the MOST white congressional district in the United States (96.5% White, 1.4% Black, 0.8% Hispanic, 0.4% Asian).

CONCLUSION: None really, that is why we call it trivia. But it would seem that it is best to avoid the extremes.