{"id":1555738,"date":"2025-08-15T23:15:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T03:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1555738"},"modified":"2025-08-15T23:15:00","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T03:15:00","slug":"gerrymandering-race-pandering-political-meandering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/gerrymandering-race-pandering-political-meandering\/1555738\/","title":{"rendered":"Gerrymandering, Race-Pandering, & Political-Meandering"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gerrymandering, Race-Pandering, & Political-Meandering<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Arthur Schaper via American Greatness,<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Gerrymandering, the political practice of carving up awkward-looking legislative districts to benefit one party\u2019s political power, has slithered into the public conversation once again.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Some of us remember the history behind this political practice, starting with the governor of Massachusetts, Elbridge Gerry. Democratic-Republicans want to shore up their new power in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Federalist opponents of the maneuver mocked one of the serpentine-like districts created by the party, christening the shape with claws, wings, and a razor-sharp mouth,\u00a0calling the monstrosity \u201cThe Gerrymander.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Why has the discussion roared into the public consensus this time? It started with the Texas legislature\u2019s efforts to redraw its state\u2019s districts after a request from the Trump Administration to review the fairness of the districts.<\/p>\n

Yes, there is gerrymandering in Texas, but not the way that liberal reformers want to portray the problem. <\/strong>Consider some of the\u00a0urban, Democratic Congressional districts in Texas:<\/a>\u00a0the 29th, 32nd, and 33rd, for example, are obscenely drawn. These contortions are examples of race pandering, or \u201crace-mandering,\u201d which result from the tortured misuse of the Voting Rights Act and fears of ongoing legal challenges from left-wing legal activists demanding more majority-minority districts. This kind of lawfare recently forced Alabama and Louisiana to create gerrymandered districts.<\/p>\n

Texas is not alone in this fight, either.\u00a0Ohio has to redraw its Congressional districts<\/a>. This opportunity could create three more Republican-leaning Congressional seats, while the Texas legislature advances a map\u00a0creating five more GOP seats.<\/a>\u00a0Of course, Governor Abbott and the Republican leadership have floated increasing the GOP advantage to six to eight seats if absent Democrats refuse to come back to work in their vain efforts to break legislative quorums. Democrats have not helped their\u00a0cause by fleeing to Illinois<\/a>, whose districts are so gerrymandered\u00a0that even Stephen Colbert poked fun at them.<\/a><\/p>\n

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who bravely pushed through a race-neutral Congressional map\u00a0in 2021, netting four more GOP seats<\/a>,\u00a0has offered to redraw the Congressional districts<\/a>\u00a0yet again, in part because the state population has grown due to an increase in migration from failed blue states. DeSantis deserves credit for the current GOP-mandering effort, since he had refused weak maps from the Florida RINOs at the beginning of the decade.<\/p>\n

Indiana<\/a>,\u00a0Missouri<\/a>, and\u00a0South Carolina<\/a>\u00a0are also exploring more daring redistricting efforts, not just because of Trump\u2019s leadership and Texas\u2019s fight, but because the United States\u00a0Supreme Court will be reviewing the \u201cmajority-minority\u201d provisions in the Voting Rights Act.<\/a>\u00a0Democrats and liberal pundits fear that the court will strike them down entirely, wiping away the need for \u201cmajority-minority districts\u201d and ensuring that Republicans gain more seats!<\/p>\n

Republicans are fighting back, and Democrats don\u2019t like that the Republicans are using their tactics against them.<\/strong><\/p>\n

California Governor Gavin Newsom, who is running for President even though he won\u2019t admit it, is leading the charge, demanding that fellow Democrats start fighting with fire<\/a>, although they started the fire, perfecting the art of gerrymandering under the guise of independent commissioners. Newsom urged the California legislature to reform the state\u2019s Citizens Redistricting Commission to create more Democratic-favoring districts.<\/p>\n

The problem with this effort, though, is that Democratic-leaning states already have some of the most heavily gerrymandered districts in the country.\u00a0<\/strong>Maryland had three Republicans as recently as 2003<\/a>, but has reduced the number with creative redrawing. Illinois is the most gerrymandered state, despite relying on an independent commission. New York State tried to push through one of the most gerrymandered districts possible, but even the all-Democratic New York Supreme Court\u00a0rejected the naked political grab from Albany politicians<\/a>.\u00a0Declining Governor Kathy Hochul wants to jump into the fray anyway.<\/a>\u00a0They wear their lawlessness like a dinner jacket.<\/p>\n

Even Massachusetts Governor\u00a0Maura Healey jumped on the merry gerrymander bandwagon<\/a>. She made a total fool of herself. All nine Congressional districts are gerrymandered to the Democrats\u2019 advantage, since the Bay State\u00a0hasn\u2019t had a Republican Congressman since 1997<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Republicans are looking good going into Election 2026, but there are rumblings against the gerrymandering sparring.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) has introduced legislation<\/a>\u00a0to stop the national mid-decade redistricting efforts. This effort is understandable, since Kiley will likely lose his seat should Gavin Newsom get his way. However, the country needs a strong GOP majority in both chambers to ensure lasting electoral and cultural change, and if a couple of seats get lost in California but more make up for the loss in other states, I can live with it (and I live in California). Kiley appears to be panicking unnecessarily, as there is no legal way for Newsom to push through his so-called \u2018Newsom-mandering\u2019 without significant legal retaliation. Moreover, Newsom\u2019s efforts are not winning him support from\u00a0California voters<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0liberal columnists<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Should we be concerned about the constant political meandering caused by redistricting? <\/strong>Voters deserve consistency in representation. I do not agree with banning mid-decade redistricting, especially if a state\u2019s population shifts or changes radically within a decade.<\/p>\n

Independent commissioners don\u2019t work\u2014they are unaccountable to the people, and still produce gerrymandered districts.\u00a0California Globe dishes on this perfectly<\/a>. We have already discussed Illinois, with its contorted, snake-like districts designed to force out Republican congressmen, even though\u00a0they garnered 43% of the vote in the 2024 election.<\/a><\/p>\n

State legislatures should be required to draw the districts.<\/p>\n

How do we prevent the ridiculous salamander shuffle, though?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If the district covers multiple counties, at least one should be placed entirely within the congressional district. If a governing county is large enough to incorporate more districts, then it should not straddle more than one other county. Municipal and geographical boundaries should be respected. No portion of a congressional district should be thinner than 20 miles.<\/p>\n

Lastly, the notion that districts are set in stone despite gerrymandering or partisan advantage is dubious in the long run. Political demographics and voting patterns change, and even well-entrenched incumbents face losses when they lose touch with voters. Nothing is static in politics.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nFri, 08\/15\/2025 – 19:15<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/political\/gerrymandering-race-pandering-political-meandering<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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