...and the starting point should be, for every state, a North/South, East/West grid, adjusted minimally along the lines of prominent N/S, E/W streets/roads to account for population variance. Each district should be as close to a square as possible. Get rid of the crap we see as in Crenshaw's district. Yes, there will be quite sizable differences in the scale of the squares because of population density variance across the nation, but the expectation of form for every district should be essentially standardized.
I thought this video was highly informative. Interesting bit about how Montana might actually have a Democratic House seat now which is interesting. What's sad though is it seems like the 2022 House will be decided more in the court room vs the ballot box with Texas and Florida trying to gerrymander the sh$t out of those two states. The losses the Democrats took down ballot in Texas in 2020 will surely haunt them. Those were winnable votes for sure that were a bit squandered with poor hispanic reach out. Those state House seats would be like gold right now for the Democrats at the very least being able to hold more Federal House seats in order to keep a majority.
This is more on the local people than anything else and there were a lot of uncertainties heading up to the Census as well. I did it in 2010 in Texas and it was much smoother it really depends on if the state powers that be, hire the proper supervisors and make sure training is done.
Exactly. Stop wasting time on attempting to game the system. This country needs a group of transformative leaders that are fair transparent and don’t raise money from anyone but small donors. With the internet you should need tv less and less in the coming years. If things do not change you could have groups of people that are fed up that could lead to catastrophic action. And when I say that I mean smarter groups of people from both the left and right and middle that are fed up. Not the morons in the capitol. I mean people that have actually read a book, went to school, and don’t believe every single g damn thing they read online.
Thanks for your account. I'd point out though that it doesn't rule out incompetence at the federal level too. I thought the Republicans were the ones trying to expose the bs system with the way they gerrymander the districts. If both parties do it, we'll automagically come to a consensus that we need to reform the system?
Yes a lot hinges on how these states get redistricted but again this is why it was important that the Democrats contest every election. This is why I was so critical of the Democrats coming into this past election that while winning the Presidency was very important so was winning state houses. The Republicans have known that for the last 30 years and why even as demographics work against them they still manage to not just hold on but even get into power.
Leaked map of "scenario 1" for how Democrat apportionment of Montana would look. You know...the party that doesn't gerrymander.
The thing is that many Americans still like low taxes and rewarding risk takers. Immigrants are more likely supportive of "conservative family values" than whatever mangled mess Libs promote aimed at pleasing everyone. Too bad they let Kung Flu Bubba wave their ConFederate Flags loudly and proudly while screaming about "taking things back" for things they think are due, not earned. Keep building dem walls...
https://republicans-oversight.house...ment-possible-biden-white-house-interference/ Republicans Demand Answers on Questionable Apportionment, Possible Biden White House Interference
Republican gerrymandering is the worst. They are desperate to keep the winding rivers of districts as white as they can to keep their edge. They lost a lot of "white" voters like me since they decided to join Trump in his propaganda and lies campaign. That worries them. They lost even more as they stood fast to vote not to impeach the leader of the sedition.
All gerrymandering needs to stop, Democrats and Republicans. Make no mistake though, the Republicans are the worst, and Texas is screwed by the GOP gerrymandering. Texas has 3 of the top 12 most gerrymandered districts in the nation, and 2 of the top 5. We are in the top 10 most gerrymandered states, along with NC, LA, MD, PA, WV, KY, LA, UT, AR, and OH. Notice how most of those states are Republican majority run.
The reason there are more Republican states doing this than Democrat states is because they control more legislatures and governorships. And that is because is it has traditionally been a party that appeals to rural voters while Democrats appeal to city dwellers. And there is a lot more rural to this country than city. If the Democrat party did more to appeal to rural voters then perhaps they would be more competitive in these rural states and they wouldn't have this problem. But they don't. The fact STILL remains that both sides do it where they are able. There is no moral high ground to be held by either party here.
"The Blue State Gerrymander Walk-Back": https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-bl...n5jti7qjp69&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink The Blue State Gerrymander Walk-Back Illinois and New York Democrats may prefer partisan maps after all. By The Editorial Board April 30, 2021 6:37 pm ET After this week’s release of decennial Census apportionments, the 2022 redistricting battles are underway. If you’ve been reading the press, you know what to expect: Republicans will gerrymander relentlessly to squeeze more GOP House seats out of red and purple states, while Democrats will model high-minded good governance and draw maps without regard to politics. OK, maybe not exactly. The post-2010 liberal zeal for nonpartisan map-drawing seems to be abating in places where Democrats are in power. See how the political winds are blowing in two blue states, Illinois and New York, that each lost a congressional seat in the latest Census count. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker campaigned in 2018 against partisan gerrymandering, saying he would “pledge to veto” any 2022 map drawn by the state Legislature. He insisted on “an independent commission to handle creating a new legislative map.” Last month Republicans in the Legislature proposed to create a redistricting commission appointed by the state’s Supreme Court. But as the partisan pens meet paper, Gov. Pritzker now says he’ll be satisfied with a map drawn by his legislative allies. In a recent press conference he walked back his veto pledge and scored Republicans for objecting to Democratic-controlled redistricting. “I hope the Republicans will choose to work with Democrats on the map. Right now it looks like they’re just saying no,” he said. Democrats control more than 60% of seats in one Illinois legislative chamber and nearly 70% in the other. They occupy 13 of 18 seats in its federal House delegation. The Democratic-controlled redistricting will naturally seek to preserve those state-level majorities and ensure that the House district lost to the new Census apportionment is majority-GOP. Campaign promises against gerrymandering don’t mean much when a state government is under one-party control. In New York, Democrats are hard at work neutering the bipartisan commission set up in 2014 to limit partisan manipulations of the electoral map. Democrats in Albany first tried to withhold funding from the commission, which is composed of four Democrats, four Republicans and two independents. Now it’s placed an opaque constitutional amendment on the ballot this November designed to tilt the balance of power on the commission ahead of its deadline to submit a map in January. The amendment would eliminate the requirement that the commission’s co-directors have support from commissioners appointed by the minority party, and weaken bipartisan vote requirements for the commission to send a map to the Legislature. It would also eliminate the supermajority requirement for the Democratic-controlled Legislature to approve any map, further boxing out the GOP. These changes to the delicate compromise that made the “independent” commission politically palatable increase the chance that it will fail to vote on a map at all. If that happens, Albany Democrats would have free rein to carve up districts as they please. Democrats are looking to expand their 19 to 8 majority in the Empire State House delegation. None of this should be surprising to observers of the gerrymandering debate. Both parties try to exploit their dominance in states to give their candidates an edge. The special cynicism comes from those who claim to be high-minded in supporting an “independent” commission that delivers similar partisan results. Ditto for the media who wink at such shenanigans. District-drawing is a political process no matter which body does it. But perhaps the country can be spared the usual volume of Democratic and media howls about how any progressive weakness in House elections is the result of singular Republican deviousness. Appeared in the May 1, 2021, print edition.
