As Texas Republicans try to muscle a rare mid-decade redistricting bill through the Legislature to help Republicans gain seats in Congress – at President Donald Trump’s request – residents in Austin, the state capital, could find themselves sharing a district with rural Texans more than 300 miles away.
The proposed map chops up Central Texas’ 37th Congressional District, which is currently represented by Democrat Rep. Lloyd Doggett, will be consumed by four neighboring districts, three of which Republicans now hold.
One of those portions of the Austin-area district was drawn to be part of the 11th District that Republican Rep. August Pfluger represents, which stretches into rural Ector County, about 20 miles away from the New Mexico border.
I will never understand how this obvious manipulation has been legal for decades.
Federal government won’t do anything about it. States control their own elections and therein lies the conundrum. Texas is proving very willingly that it doesn’t care about the rules as long as they win.
And you pretend that the Democrats haven’t been doing this since they were the Democratic Republican Party.
The Democrats proposed a bill last congress to ban gerrymandering and every single Republican voted against it.
It was also full of Democrat shenanigans that they knew the Republicans would not vote for, so they tossed in jerrymandering, knowing the bill would never pass to make it look like they were for it.
Without jerrymandering, the Democrats would lose many seats because they’d no longer be able to take large swaths of rural and suburban areas, then make a wonky looking maps to link them to cities to ensure the suburban and rural voters get outvoted by the urban voters. They’d also no longer be able to carve out mostly black districts that they have no chance of ever losing.
Without their jerrymandering, they wouldn’t have single party control of Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
when lawmakers break the law and nobody enforces the law, it stops being the law.
Over a century. It all started with the Democratic Republican Party that eventually became the Democratic Party.
If you think that the Democrats are the only ones to gerrymander until now you’re not intelligent enough to be weighing in
They both do it. Democrats are just the ones who invented it, then like everything they do, they cry victim when the Republicans also do it and try to act like they’re filled with righteous indignation knowing that they also jerrymander.
The worst part is that democrats will fight back by gerrymandering harder, and it just won’t be as effective because gerrymandering always benefits the person behind. If democrats had an ounce of intelligence, they would be fighting for standard algorithms to manage redistricting. If it was federal law to minimize district perimeters, this whole nonsense would end.
I don’t think Democrats can Jerrymander much harder than they have been since 1812.
Democrats won’t fight for standard anything because they would lose many, MANY seats in their own states because they’ve been Jerrymandered all to hell to ensure that non Democrat voters are always the minority in their districts.
Oh no. anyway, here’s a map of Illinois’ congressional districts.
Oh no! Just cause Illinois district is fucky doesn’t mean Texas’ should be even more fucky. It’s not a god damned contest.
Sounds like you’re just upset that the Republicans are following the Democrats’ lead. It’s like watching a kid cheat in a game, then watch the kid get upset when the other kid also starts cheating.
Are you genuinely that obtuse?
No, but you seem to be. Do you honestly think the Democratic Party doesn’t jerrymander every chance they get?
Jerrymander 🤦♂️
What if I were to tell you that some people oppose shitty tactics coming from anybody, not just as a ‘gotcha’ against one side?
Bullshit. Where’s the outrage from the people screeching about Republicans Gerrymandering?
There is none. They’re actively cheering the Democrats coming out and saying, “If Republicans are going to copy our tactics and Gerrymander, which we invented, then WE will Gerrymander EVEN HARDER!”
This is the “nuclear option” all over again. Democrats used the nuclear option to force through presidential nominees, then got pissed off when Republicans followed suit.
Classic whataboutism. Jfc get a life
I call out hypocrisy when I see it. Democrats have been Gerrymandering since 1820, but you seem to be perfectly fine with it. Therefore, it’s fine when Republicans do it too, because turnabout is fair play.
If someone brings a sword to a boxing match, they shouldn’t be surprised when the other person brings their own sword.
No you don’t. The democrats of today aren’t the same as back then. Also show me where I said I was perfectly fine with it? Therefore it’s not fine when Republicans ( who really did it first, let’s be honest) do it. Because of what, your school yard logic???
If someone brings a sword to a boxing match, they shouldn’t be surprised when the other person brings their own sword.
So EXACTLY what Gavin is doing in response to Texas. It’s ok then right?
