Ping
California should be split into 5 states, not 2 (the “state names” provided are descriptive, but hardly optimal):
1. State of Los Angeles, with all of L.A. County:
10.0 million pop in 2010, 45%-50% Hispanic, 10% black, 12%-15% Asian
16 electoral votes, 29.17% McCain 2008, 35.60% Bush 2004, 32.35% Bush 2000
2. State of San Francisco Bay, with all of Alameda, Contra Costa, Humboldt, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo Counties:
8.1 million pop in 2010, 21%-25% Hispanic, 7% black, 17%-20% Asian
13 electoral votes, 24.82% McCain in 2008, 29.95% Bush in 2004, 30.64% Bush in 2000
3. State of Inland Empire, with all of Kern, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties:
6.7 million pop in 2010, 36%-40% Hispanic, 6% black, 4%-5% Asian
11 electoral votes, 46.79% McCain in 2008, 55.54% Bush in 2004, 50.70% Bush in 2000
4. State of Central Valley, with all of Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Inyo, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Benito, San Joaquin, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne and Yuba Counties:
6.5 million pop in 2010, 27%-32% Hispanic, 5% black, 7%-8% Asian
11 electoral votes, 48.27% McCain in 2008, 56.92% Bush in 2004, 53.17% Bush in 2000
5. State of San Diego, with all of Imperial, Orange and San Diego Counties:
6.3 million pop in 2010, 30%-35% Hispanic, 4% black, 11%-13% Asian
11 electoral votes, 47.07% McCain in 2008, 55.86% Bush in 2004, 52.57% Bush in 2000
Essentially, comfortably Democrat California would be converted into two ridiculously Democrat states (based in L.A. and San Francisco Bay) and three GOP-leaning states, and under normal circumstances the 5 states would give the GOP a 6-4 edge in U.S. Senate seats (the Dems have had a 2-0 edge since 1992) and a 33-29 edge in electoral votes (the Dems got all 55 EVs from CA in 2008 and 2004 and all 54 EVs from CA in 2000, 1996 and 1992).
We should also split Texas up into four GOP states, which would give us 6 new GOP Senators (and increase GOP electoral votes by 6 as well).