Redistricting — who's safe, who's not, who's running against a friend

After redistricting, Michele Bachmann no longer lives in the Sixth Congressional District. No problem: she's going to run for Congress in the Sixth again anyway. The law doesn't say you have to live in the district you represent in Congress. (Who knew?)

Since she spent months claiming and proclaiming her Iowa roots, maybe she could run for Congress there?  Oh, wait — even Iowa's Republicans weren't crazy about her. And she'd have to move, at least by November, since the U.S. Constitution requires that a member of Congress must "when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen."

Redistricting didn't do much to the rest of Minnesota's congressional delegation, but the legislature is a different story. Some erstwhile allies are now going to be running against one another, some districts are open, and there will be some DFL/GOP incumbent match-ups. Here's the scoop:

In the Senate: 16 paired incumbents and 8 vacant seats

Vacant seats in Senate Districts 9, 12, 20, 30, 35, 42, 50, and 53

DFL vs. DFL in Minneapolis and St. Paul

Ken Kelash vs. Scott Dibble in SD 61
John Marty vs. Mary Jo McGuire in SD 66

Republican vs. Republican

Bill Ingebrigtsen vs.  Gretchen Hoffman in SD 8
Julie A. Rosen vs. Al DeKruif in SD 23
Michelle Benson vs. Michael J. Jungbauer in SD 31
Ted Lillie vs.  Ray Vandeveer in SD 39 

Republican vs. DFL

John J. Carlson (R) vs. Tom Saxhaug (DFL) in SD 5
Gary W. Kubly (DFL) vs.  Joe Gimse (R) in SD 17

In the House: 30 paired incumbents and 15 vacant seats

Vacant seats in House Districts 2B, 9A, 10B, 11A, 15B, 16B, 20B, 30B, 32A, 32B, 37A, 42A, 43A, 50A, 58A,

DFL vs. DFL

Paul Marquart vs. Kent Eken in 4B
Lyle Koenen vs. Andrew Falk in 17A
Tom Tilberry vs. Kate Knuth in 41A
Frank Hornstein vs. Marion Greene in 61A
Jean Wagenius vs. Linda Slocum in 63B
Alice Hausman vs. Mindy Greiling in 66A (not really a contest, as Mindy Greiling has announced that she will be stepping down.)

Republican vs. Republican

Mary Franson vs. Mark Murdock in 8B
Glenn Gruenhagen vs. Ron Shimanski in 18B
Paul Torkelson vs. Tony Cornish in 23B
Branden Petersen vs. Peggy Scott in 35B
Carol McFarlane vs. Matt Dean in 38B
Bob Dettmer vs. Bob Barrett in 39A

Republican vs. DFL

Larry Howes (R) vs. John Persell (DFL) in 5A
Catolyn McElfatrick (R) vs. Tom Anzelc (DFL) in 5B
Roger Crawford (R) vs. Bill Hilty (DFL)

Not sure what district you are in? You can locate your new Minnesota legislative district by entering your address here. If you want a street-level close-up of your district, click here and then choose "PDF Maps of Senate Districts."

Unlike Michele Bachmann, Minnesota legislators cannot represent a district unless they live there. The Minnesota State Constitution, Article IV, Section 6, says: "Senators and representatives shall be qualified voters of the state, and shall have resided one year in the state and six months immediately preceding the election in the district from which elected."

There could be arguments over the fairness of the districts or whether the lines should go a block west or two blocks north, but in the end, this is the new legislative map that we'll live with for ten years.