Who Is My Representative?

Posted By PK Last updated September 19th, 2012 13 Comments

Most people don’t know who their representatives are. Let’s correct that oversight, at least for those of you who come to this website!

On this page you’ll find some code which identifies the politicians representing a given address. You can either enter an address in the search box or “alt-click” on the map (option-click on a Mac) to get politician information. I wrote this piece of code as part of a larger project, but it stands on its own merits so I decided to release it to the public. Have fun!

(If you click or hit enter wait a second before leaving an angry comment – there are a ton of politicians and it takes 1-2 seconds to look them up. Also, scroll the map if you can’t see them all! And sorry – US only.)

Who Are My Representatives?

(If you get this article in a feed reader or aggregator, click through to use the application and find your politicians.)

Sources

If you want to use my code, go wild. You can find it by looking at the page source of this page. Note: if you decide to use the images, don’t load them from my domain. Download them here and host them elsewhere. Get your own API keys for MapQuest, Cloudmade and Sunlight as well. Credit me and link back here if you want!

If you enjoyed this post, let others know!

AverageJoe

Cool map! I get really frustrated around election time that SO MANY people vote and don’t have a clue why they’re voting. Sweet resource.
- http://www.dqydj.net/ PK
  
  Luckily they roughly balance each other, or we hope anyway!
  
  Glad you like it! Surprised so few people did, heh.
http://dumbpassiveincome.com/ Matthew Allen

I’m getting a map, but I’m not getting any representatives..? Is something wrong? Am I doing something wrong? I entered an address and tried to click and alt-click all over the map. Nothing.

Digging the new theme, by the way. It’s different than the old one, but not too different. Nice work.
- http://www.dqydj.net/ PK
  
  You have no representation in Congress!? No Taxation without Representation!
  
  Just kidding. It’s probably having an issue with how you entered it – it’s using Mapquest’s Geocoder, so if it works there it should work here. Things to try: put commas after the street/way/ct/whatever and the city name, add or remove the zip code, try a neighbor’s house. If it still doesn’t work you can email your address to me and I’ll figure it out, but I assume you want to keep your address off this public part of the internet.
  
  Yeah, the new theme spins up only about half as many entry processes too, which means I’ll get to keep my shared hosting a tiny bit longer (although that situation is fluid…).
  - http://dumbpassiveincome.com/ Matthew Allen
    
    I didn’t include the zip code. That’s probably why. The map was still accurate though.
    
    You’re going to need a dedicated server and hosting account before you know it with the popularity and growth of this site!
    - http://www.dqydj.net/ PK
      
      Matt, you’re too kind! We’re still in the ’5 digit monthly pageview’ group though. I don’t think people start bringing bags of gold to your doorstep until 6 figure. Of course, I could be mistaken about how advertising works?
JT

Cool tool. Maybe you can encourage people to look into their politicians and vote by merit, not party line or *gasp* straight ticket.
- http://www.dqydj.net/ PK
  
  A split ticket? What’s that?
  
  Right. I never want to hear the word ‘coattails’ again when it comes to voting. Maybe I can come up with another idea that would make it easier to know about those down ticket representatives? Hmm…
http://www.ontargetcoach.com/ Brent Pittman

Nifty. I must confess I’ve never heard of the names that popped up.
- http://www.dqydj.net/ PK
  
  I’d call the tool a success, then! Glad I could help.
Dominique Brown

Nice map, very easy to use. This is definitely a big help to those who
don’t know the representatives in their area. Now I can do a little
research on the representatives I would be voting this coming election. Actually… I voted for my rep, but I didn’t know who they were until about election time. Now, I can throw them in an google alert and get notified whenever they do something newsworthy.
YourFinancesSimplified

Nice map, very easy to use. This is definitely a big help to those who
don’t know the representatives in their area. Now I can do a little
research on the representatives I would be voting this coming election.
Actually… I voted for my rep, but I didn’t know who they were until
about election time. Now, I can throw them in an google alert and get
notified whenever they do something newsworthy.
- http://www.dqydj.net/ PK
  
  I didn’t – we moved after the last election, so the Reps here are new to me (except my senators Boxer/Feinstein). These people are new to me, haha.

Who Is My Representative?

If you enjoyed this post, let others know!

Connect

Subscribe to DQYDJ's RSS or Email feed:

Newest on DQYDJ

DQYDJ’s Greatest Hits

Sponsors

Links