The anti-census paranoia spread on the right by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) doesn’t seem to be catching on in the place where it could have had the most effect: Bachmann’s own district.
The Twin Cities-based City Pages points out that Minnesota has had a return rate for the census that has been well above the national average, putting the state in the top five. This is partially explained by the fact that the state is known to be on the cusp of losing a seat, and a greater return rate could very well make the difference in a close count.
The kicker here is that the counties making up Bachmann’s district have had exceptionally high return rates, ranging from 68%-71%. By comparison, the national average has been just over 50%. This is quite ironic, given that their Congresswoman declared last year that she would only partially fill out the form, warned about the connection between the census and the Japanese-American internment — and fittingly enough, complained that the government was asking asking questions about mental health.
If Minnesota were to lose a seat, a very likely outcome would be that Bachmann’s district would be carved up among its neighbors. This would not only be because of an animus against Bachmann on the part of Democratic state legislators, but also the nature of the state’s districts themselves. Most of the districts in the state are fairly neat and regularly shaped, and centered around identifiable regions of the state such as Minneapolis, St. Paul, the Twin Cities suburbs, the Iron Range, etc. Bachmann’s district is made up of the area left over from such a process, and winds through the state — so the most logical course of action would be to cut it up.
But with return rates that are about 20 points above the national average so far, that district could very well end up justifying its existence — and we’ll still have Michele Bachmann around.
