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Leading Off:

• MN Redistricting: A special panel convened by the Minnesota Supreme Court released new legislative and congressional plans on Tuesday, as expected. (The Republican-held legislature and Dem Gov. Mark Dayton deadlocked long ago, sending redistricting to court.) Here’s the new congressional map:

(click for larger)

Ultimately, the plan effects the proverbial “least change” from existing district lines, which means that, as before, most attention this November is likely to stay focused on GOP freshman Chip Cravaack’s 8th Congressional District, though Dem Tim Walz’s 1st and Republican Michele Bachmann’s 6th could see some action as well. Click here for our detailed review of the new map, which also includes our trademark redistribution analysis. While there are potential (narrow) avenues for appeal, it’s unlikely these lines will change.

If you’d like to explore on your own, start here, where you’ll find PDFs for a close up of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, and a comparison of the old lines with the new lines, plus many other informational data files. Further goodies can also be found for the congressional and legislative plans. (Under the “Download Files” drop-downs at those last two links, there are files that should be uploadable into Dave’s Redistricting App.)

Daily Kos