“Eric Cantor is a Jewish Republican. This is a very rural conservative southern district where that is not a — you don’t have a lot of Jewish members of Congress from the South.”
I guess, then Cantor converted to Judaism in the past two years, since Republicans didn’t seem at all bothered by his religion in the past?
Also I don’t see how Cantor’s district is very rural. I would propose land area is a good metric, although not perfect. A district might have a very large land area yet if 90% of the voters are urban you could call it an urban district.
Smallest CD (land area): NY 13 - Charlie Rangel D
Largest CD (land area): AK 1 - Don Young R
Some states leave water area unassigned.
Cantor’s district is 240th out of 435 - slightly larger (more rural) than the median but not by much.
As Southern Districts go (Old Confederacy plus Kentucky):
smallest district FL 24
largest district TX 23
Cantor’s district is 65th out of 144 - slightly smaller (less rural) than the median southern seat.