Redistricting the 3rd

The 3rd Congressional District runs along the James River picking up most every democratic stronghold from Richmond to Tidewater. While the political leanings of the district are not likely to change in the upcoming redistricting, the 3rd will have to gain some more territory. Since most every locality in the district is experiencing stagnant or decreasing growth, they will need to expand. This coupled with the 2nd's expansion could make for an interesting task. Most likely the 3rd will gain more of Newport News city as well as Prince George County.

In the unlikely event that the democrats control the process in 2010, they may choose to put Portsmouth into the 4th like in 1990 to strengthen the democratic base there. This would leave the 3rd looking for an additional 100k people which would probably have to be found in James City County as well as giving the 2nd all of Norfolk City and giving the 3rd all of Hampton City.

Either way, the 3rd will still be an overwhelmingly democratic seat; so Bobby Scott has nothing to worry about.