Justin Haas
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Massachusetts House districts
editHi Justin. The state law says that Massachusetts House districts are drawn "for the purposes of choosing representatives in the general court." Would county voting history for other offices (eg governor, U.S. president, U.S. senator)[1][2] be better placed elsewhere? -- M2545 (talk) 09:00, 7 May 2020 (UTC)
- Hi M2545, thanks for the message and for your work standing up all these pages on MA legislative districts. I do think it's valuable to have information on each district's election results for statewide races somewhere because I think it conveys information about the partisan lean of each district and shows how that has changed over time. Do you have another idea of where it could be put? Justin Haas (talk) 11:36, 7 May 2020 (UTC)
- Hi Justin. Good idea to indicate party strength in the House district articles. Could you include a sentence summarizing party strength? and put your tables into county articles (eg Franklin County), with a see also link in the House district article? -- M2545 (talk) 11:59, 7 May 2020 (UTC)
- While I do think it would also be worthwhile to have party strength indicated for counties somewhere (for example displaying election results for president, senator, and governor from each county) even though counties themselves only elect county officials in Massachusetts, I think it is also worth having party strength indicated for legislative districts somewhere (for example displaying election results for president, senator, and governor from each district) even though legislative districts only themselves elect state legislators. I think it's an open question, though, of where specifically it should be located: On the pages for legislative districts or maybe on a separate page titled something like Political party strength in District Name? Justin Haas (talk) 12:08, 7 May 2020 (UTC)
- How about something like "Between 2012 and 2018, voters in this county usually elected candidates aligned with the Green-Rainbow Party."
- Again, I'm talking about election results from statewide races from legislative districts, not counties (although as a separate topic, it could be worth including that somewhere else too). Unlike in many other states, counties don't carry great significance in Massachusetts politics since county governments were abolished (with exceptions in the Southeast and Cape and Islands) and state parties here aren't organized around counties. Justin Haas (talk) 13:55, 7 May 2020 (UTC)
- Related: have you seen the county-district comparisons by Daily Kos? (explanatory article here). -- M2545 (talk) 13:44, 7 May 2020 (UTC)
- No, I haven't previously looked at that. Justin Haas (talk) 13:55, 7 May 2020 (UTC)
- The 3rd Middlesex district article has a good, on-topic electoral history section with numbers that pertain to the office of House representative. Readers might find statistics for other offices off-topic and confusing. -- M2545 (talk) 08:04, 8 May 2020 (UTC)
- I think the compact election box works better for this (see here) and also that election results for a given district from statewide races are relevant to a page about that district and can appear there without being confusing (as in this CA State Assembly district page). Justin Haas (talk) 00:33, 9 May 2020 (UTC)
- That compact election box looks great. You might consider formatted citations. -- M2545 (talk) 08:31, 9 May 2020 (UTC)
- I think the compact election box works better for this (see here) and also that election results for a given district from statewide races are relevant to a page about that district and can appear there without being confusing (as in this CA State Assembly district page). Justin Haas (talk) 00:33, 9 May 2020 (UTC)
- The 3rd Middlesex district article has a good, on-topic electoral history section with numbers that pertain to the office of House representative. Readers might find statistics for other offices off-topic and confusing. -- M2545 (talk) 08:04, 8 May 2020 (UTC)
- No, I haven't previously looked at that. Justin Haas (talk) 13:55, 7 May 2020 (UTC)
- How about something like "Between 2012 and 2018, voters in this county usually elected candidates aligned with the Green-Rainbow Party."
- While I do think it would also be worthwhile to have party strength indicated for counties somewhere (for example displaying election results for president, senator, and governor from each county) even though counties themselves only elect county officials in Massachusetts, I think it is also worth having party strength indicated for legislative districts somewhere (for example displaying election results for president, senator, and governor from each district) even though legislative districts only themselves elect state legislators. I think it's an open question, though, of where specifically it should be located: On the pages for legislative districts or maybe on a separate page titled something like Political party strength in District Name? Justin Haas (talk) 12:08, 7 May 2020 (UTC)
- Hi Justin. Good idea to indicate party strength in the House district articles. Could you include a sentence summarizing party strength? and put your tables into county articles (eg Franklin County), with a see also link in the House district article? -- M2545 (talk) 11:59, 7 May 2020 (UTC)
General Court article names, etc
editHi Justin. In case you are interested, there is discussion just now at WikiProject Massachusetts about (1) Massachusetts General Court session article names and (2) Legislative district article names. Your input would be welcome. Cheers. -- M2545 (talk) 21:50, 14 June 2020 (UTC)
- Thanks for the heads up; I just went and added my thoughts. Justin Haas (talk) 15:42, 15 June 2020 (UTC)
ArbCom 2020 Elections voter message
editSeeking help editing an article
editHi @Justin Haas:
I am a student who is new to Wikipedia. In one of my subjects, I am editing and updating the China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement article. I saw that you are a member of Wikiproject: China and was wondering if you would be able to provide me with some feedback and help me improve it.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated! :)