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The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index

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The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index
PVI Color.png
Basic facts
Location:Washington, D.C.
Founder(s):Charles E. Cook Jr.
Year founded:1997
Website:Official website
Connections
The Cook Political Report


See also: The Cook Political Report

The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index (PVI) is a measurement tool that scores each congressional district based on how strongly it leans toward one political party. The index, developed by Charles Cook of the The Cook Political Report (CPR), compares each congressional district's score to that of the nation as a whole. According to Politico, the PVI is designed to "provide a quick overall assessment of generic partisan strength in a congressional district."[1][2][3]

The data in the report is compiled by POLIDATA, a political data analysis company, with assistance from National Journal and The Cook Political Report.[4][5]

Background

The Cook Political Report published its first Partisan Voter Index (PVI) in August 1997. The PVI was developed by Charles Cook, editor and publisher of Cook, and scores each congressional district based on how strongly it leans toward one political party. The PVI is determined by comparing each congressional district's presidential vote to the national presidential election results. According to Cook, the PVI "is an attempt to find an objective measurement of each congressional district that allows comparisons between states and districts, thereby making it relevant in both mid-term and presidential election years."[6]

The Cook Political Report produces an updated PVI for all 50 states and each of the 435 congressional districts following each presidential election and redistricting cycle.[6]

Work

Data and methodology

The Cook Political Report relies on presidential vote data to produce the Partisan Voter Index (PVI) because presidential vote data can be used to compare districts across state lines, unlike data from other federal or state-level elections. The PVI is developed using vote data from the most recent presidential election as well as vote data from the previous presidential election. For example, the 2017 PVI incorporated vote data from the 2016 and 2012 presidential elections.[6]

Inconsistencies among vote data aggregation processes and redistricting cycles can present challenges in determining the PVI. The Cook Political Report observed the following challenges in its 2017 PVI summary:[6]

“ Following each election and round of redistricting, presidential results are compiled to generate PVI scores for each congressional district. In a few states, these results are aggregated by district by state and/or local election authorities. However, in others they are not, and the reported election results do not account for some votes that are reported centrally and not redirected back to the voter’s registration precinct ... Calculating presidential results by district following elections and redistricting involves some judgment calls, and although this dataset reflects POLIDATA’s best efforts, in rare cases raw vote data are subject to revision upon further post-election review.[6][7] ”

Sample PVI

The PVI is designed to reflect the unique partisan nature of each congressional district. The Cook Political Report provided the following explanation of a sample PVI in its 2017 PVI summary:

“ A Partisan Voting Index score of D+2, for example, means that in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, that district performed an average of two points more Democratic than the nation did as a whole, while an R+4 means the district performed four points more Republican than the national average. If a district performed within half a point of the national average in either direction, we assign it a score of EVEN.[6][7] ”


Cook Partisan Voter Indexes (2012-2024)

2024

Statistics:

Click [show] on the table below to view the full set of data:


2022

See also: United States House of Representatives elections, 2022

Cook's 2022 PVI report included the following congressional district statistics following the 2020 election cycle:[8]

  • 222 Republican wins
  • 213 Democratic wins

Other statistics:[8]

2020

See also: United States House of Representatives elections, 2020 and Presidential election, 2020

Cook's 2021 PVI report included the following congressional district statistics following the 2020 election cycle:[13]

  • 222 Republican wins
  • 213 Democratic wins

Other statistics:[13]

2016

See also: United States House of Representatives elections, 2016 and Presidential election, 2016

Cook's 2017 PVI report included the following congressional district statistics following the 2016 election cycle:[6][14]

  • 241 Republican wins
  • 194 Democratic wins

Other statistics:[6]



2012

See also: United States House of Representatives elections, 2012

Cook's 2013 PVI report included the following congressional district statistics following the 2012 election cycle:[4]

  • 213 Republican wins
  • 158 Democratic wins
  • 62 open seats
  • Two incumbent vs. incumbent match-ups

Other statistics:

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Cook Political Report Partisan Voter Index. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index - Google News

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Politico, "Charlie Cook's PVI," April 10, 2009
  2. ↑ RedState, "New Cook PVIs Show Big Opportunities for Conservatives in the House," October 11, 2012
  3. ↑ Swing State Project, "Just what is the Partisan Voter Index (PVI)?" November 16, 2008
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Cook Political Report, "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 113th Congress: 2004 & 2008" accessed October 2012
  5. ↑ POLIDATA, "About," accessed July 7, 2017
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 The Cook Political Report, "Introducing the 2017 Cook Political Report Partisan Voter Index," April 7, 2017
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Cook Political Report, "The 2022 Cook Partisan Voting Index (Cook PVI℠)," accessed September 8, 2022
  9. ↑ Incumbents in office in 2022 were elected under the post-2010 district lines rather than the post-2020 lines in use for 2022. The incumbents listed in this column are those who ran in general elections in the new districts rather than those elected in 2020 under the old districts. Districts where no incumbent ran are marked "N/A" even if an incumbent represented the district at the time of the 2022 election.
  10. ↑ Winner calculated using the results of the 2020 presidential election and the district lines in effect for the 2022 election.
  11. ↑ Incumbents Alfred Lawson (D) and Neal Dunn (R) both ran in the 2022 general election in this district.
  12. ↑ Incumbents Vicente Gonzalez Jr. (D) and Mayra Flores (R) both ran in the 2022 general election in this district.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 The Cook Political Report, "Introducing the 2021 Cook Political Report Partisan Voter Index," April 15, 2021
  14. ↑ The Cook Political Report, "2016 National House Popular Vote Tracker," accessed July 7, 2017
  15. ↑ The Cook Political Report, "Partisan Voting Index Districts of the 115th Congress," June 7, 2017
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