Mapping Representation: Identifying Political Opportunities for Native Candidates Nationwide

Our partner's vision for this project

In our Bluebonnet Fellowship, we worked with Advance Native Political Leadership (ANPL), an organization whose mission is to address the need for increased Native American representation in elected and appointed offices throughout the country. Our partners at ANPL were looking for an intuitive way to spatially represent various districts throughout the United States so that districts with high levels of Native population could be easily identified. ANPL would use this tool as a first step towards candidate scouting for elections at different levels of government.

The process for achieving their vision

We were provided with data from the US Census Bureau consisting of demographic data for various district types across the United States. For all states and territories, we received statewide data, county-level data, state upper legislative chamber data, state lower legislative data, and federal congressional district level data.

We were able to access and download the corresponding shapefiles for each of these datasets from the Census Bureau as well. Our partner organization wanted to present this data in a spatial and interactive way. PowerBI was selected as its functionality was easy to learn, and its pricing was competitive for what our partner organization wanted to show.

One of the biggest complications of this project was determining how to layout each state’s page. The national landing page would allow the user to go directly to a state. Initially, the layout would then be a state-level landing page that allows the user to then navigate to another landing page for each state’s set of districts. For example, if you wanted to view the Colorado State House page, you would start at the National-level page, go to the Colorado-level page, and then choose the Colorado State House page. This would be simple for a dashboard with just a few states, but the long-term goal for this project is a dashboard with all fifty states. In this initial set up, each state would have five pages (one state-level and four district-level pages). 

After a few drafts, the final layout chosen was a landing page showing all 50 states with some state-level data about demographics and election results from the 2020 Presidential election (see Figure 1). Each state-level page would have bookmarks which switch between district-level maps rather than directing to a new page for each set of districts. Rather than upwards of 250 pages in the initial format (five pages for each of the fifty states), this layout would lead to 51 total pages (one national-level and fifty state pages).

Figure 1: Countrywide Landing Page, showing 2020 Presidential results

The user could then click on a state to pull up a state-specific page, showing demographic and electoral results data for each state (See Figure 2). Each state has a tab showing demographic data about Native and/or Pacific Islander populations in each district. All states include a tab for counties, State House districts, State Senate districts, and federal Congressional districts.

Figure 2: State Specific Overview Page, showing various state-level analysis options

Our partners could then click on any number of districts to see demographic information about that specific district. In Figure 3, for example, North Carolina House District 47 has been highlighted. This district has the highest percentage of indigenous voting age population (VAP) in the state, and would be a good target for an organization like ANPL whose mission is to address the need for increased Native American representation in elected and appointed offices throughout the country.

Figure 3: District-level highlights

A living document for the future

This tool provides a clear, accessible way for ANPL to assess demographic data and make informed decisions about where to focus efforts for future candidates. By streamlining the workflow—reducing the complexity from five pages per state to just one—the dashboard enhances usability, making it easier for ANPL to scale their efforts across all states. Currently, about 20 states are included in the dashboard and plans are to complete the remaining 30 states. Moving forward, there is room for enhancing the tool to include additional data, such as socioeconomic indicators or past election trends, which could further assist in candidate selection. Additional district pages could be included for Public Commissioner districts, judicial boundaries or nearly any other type of district. The tool is set up in PowerBI so that the underlying demographic data can be updated after the 2030 census and/or whenever any state undergoes redistricting. Ultimately, the tool is designed to be a living document; ANPL can continue to alter and improve the tool to meet their current and future needs. We are excited to have contributed to Advance Native Political Leadership’s mission and see their work continue to empower Native communities across the country.

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About the Author

Jordan Hyatt is a civil engineer from Atlanta, Georgia. He is passionate about creating a more representative democracy, where political leadership reflects the diverse demographics of the United States. As a Bluebonnet Data Fellow, he has used his skills with data visualization and data analysis to help Advanced Native Political Leadership and the Forsyth County Democratic Committee (North Carolina).