# Middle America **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 13, 2019, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-america/844823 "2019-12-13T20:58:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 37
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2019, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-america/844823/37 "2019-12-15T14:54:56Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > I think California’s 55 electoral votes give it a disproportionate amount of clout, since that’s more than 10% of the total needed to elect a President, and more than 14 states combined. Maybe we can rectify that by breaking up California. [off-topic] It’s sometimes said that if California were divided into six states, four of them would be Red. I’ve just re-checked the numbers and _That simply is not true._ You can divide California into several states — almost as many as you like! — _all with very comfortable Blue majorities_, and with very straightforward, compact, non-gerrymander-looking boundaries. Maps dividing California into red/blue counties or precincts are extremely misleading because most of the red areas are mountainous regions with extremely low population density. The redneck votes of mountainous California would be drowned out by Sacramento and Sonoma Counties. Throw in Marin County for a blue landslide. BTW, note that Humboldt County voted for Clinton by almost a 2-to-1 margin! Coastal elites? 😛 In the south, the R votes in the Central Valley (Bakersfield etc.) would be drowned out by Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Bernardino Counties. (Note that Fresno County voted for Clinton.) What will it take for this break-up? Fifty Senators and California going along? I propose a Federation of the resultant Northifornia and Southifornia States so these fine new states can share a Governor and get other economies of scale! 🙂 --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-america/844823)._