About Blyden Potts: A sociologist and social network analyst, Blyden lives near Shippensburg, PA. He enjoys solving various kinds of puzzles and has an interest in politics, two interests that came together in this Draw The Lines contest.

Judges' Statement

This quirky map, which Blyden named “Reverse Gerrymandering,” wins not just for its beauty (it is truly crazy looking), but for its demonstration of what a hyper focus on competitive districts looks like in our state. Professor Potts somehow managed to include Erie and parts of the City of Philadelphia into one congressional district, running all the way up the Commonwealth’s right flank and across its top. He himself characterized the map as “kind of a joke,” but he created 15 competitive districts, got an 18/18 for target population and contiguity. This is a good reminder that legislative redistricting is as much an art as a science.

Personal Statement

This submission is kind of a joke. This is what happens when you try to reverse gerrymander to get a lot of competitive districts. What a mess!!