Key House Races

Oct. 11-16

This information graphic on “Key House Races in the 2010 Elections” ran on “The New York Times” web site. The graphic was posted on Oct. 11 and was created by Ford Fessenden and Haeyoun Park. The graphic cites several sources for their information, including Campaign Media Analysis Group, Sunlight Foundation, and the Federal Election Commission.

One of the strengths for this graphic is that it is organized in a way that prevents the tremendous amount of information from becoming too overwhelming. I particularly like “The Race in 30 Words” as it tells me very quickly the key details in each race without my having to take the time to interpret anything.

The graphic lists the key house races for the upcoming election. The information conveyed includes the location of the race, the Democrat and Republican on the ballot, their current job, how the incumbent voted on stimulus and health care, and how much money each candidate has spend on television advertising in the last six months.

The purpose of this particular graphic is to inform viewers quickly and simply what races could have an impact on Congress. Anyone interested in politics will be interested to see how an incumbent’s votes may affect the outcome of the election. Those who are voting in these key races will find it interesting to view “The Race in 30 Words” and how each candidate voted in the past.

One thing I don’t like about this graphic is that the races are sorted into confusing groups. One section is called “Obama’s Class of ‘08” and includes incumbents who were elected the same time as the president and voted with him on big bills. Another section includes newly elected Democrats who didn’t vote with the president on big bills. It seems like an odd way to organize the information.

I would have liked to see photos of the candidates as well. I’m sure each candidate has a press photo that would be easy to access and it would give viewers a visual with which to remember candidates.

The design is simple and effective. There is no chart junk used to distract viewers; instead, the graphic is focused on the information itself. However, the graphic has a lot of text and a few visuals might help draw in more viewers.