Michael Waxenberg (upper right) and his family with U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright (upper left) | Image Credit: Michael Waxenberg

About the Waxenberg Family: We started the mapping project as a civics lesson for the whole family. Little did we know how much we'd learn in the process.

Judges' Statement

The Waxenberg family's map went over the top. It was the best at illustrating the point about what you have to do to create competitive districts.

Personal Statement

With this map, we sought to minimize population variances while maintaining reasonable adherence to compactness and other key principles. In order to bring all districts to a population of within a few hundred of the target, we had to split a few extra counties. We have generally treated county splits as a last resort, but it seemed the only way to achieve the desired result.