New York Times' 2006 Midterm Elections Map

I was greatly impressed when I came across this 2006 Midterm Elections map by the New York Times. It's Flash-based, meaning that I can't imbed more than a screenshot of one of its maps, but the screenshot gives the general idea.

Essentially, it is a collection of maps about the midterm elections, divided into several categories. The most basic maps are the maps of the Democratic and Republican gains and holds in the Senate, House, and governor races. The color-coding system makes it easy to see at a glance how many states each party held and won, and it is clear right away that the Democrats made great gains in that election. The states can be shown with their standard political boundaries or they can be distorted by population, showing which states have the most influence in Congress and how those states are divided between Democratic and Republican representation.

The maps make good use of rollovers, as hovering the mouse on various features brings up additional statistics, such as voting percentages. The interface is clean and easy to understand, and it communicates the results without cluttering the interface with meaningless content. The map succeeds at its primary goal and does so in an attractive fashion.