Bloomberg View: Democrats Strike Back in the Redistricting Wars
By Albert R. Hunt
Bloomberg View
Kelly Ward is determined not to bang her head, politically, against the wall. She spent four years running the Democrats’ House Campaign Committee where, thanks to the Republicans’ prodigious gerrymandering of congressional districts, she made little progress.
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The Hill: Gerrymandering: Time To Think Outside The Box
By Shany Mor
The Hill
It is a truth universally acknowledged that the practice of politics in America cannot begin to repair itself without addressing the problem of gerrymandered Congressional districts. And yet the solutions on offer are remarkably modest.
Perhaps we should be thinking outside the box, especially once it has taken on the shape of Latin earmuffs or a fork-tongued salamander—to name…
Huffington Post: Supreme Court Sides With Democrats In Challenge To Virginia’s Racially Drawn Districts
By Cristian Farias
Huffington Post
The Supreme Court largely ruled on Wednesday for a group of Democratic Virginia residents in a racial gerrymandering case that could have a big impact on legal challenges to GOP-led redistricting efforts throughout the country.
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Think Progress: Supreme Court Snatches Victory Away From The Forces Of Gerrymandering
By Ian Millhiser
Think Progress
On Wednesday morning, the Supreme Court corrected a serious error by a lower federal court that, if allowed to spread throughout the judiciary, could have significantly bolstered future attempts to draw gerrymandered districts.
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Washington Post: Gerrymandering Is The Biggest Obstacle To Genuine Democracy In The United States. So Why Is No One Protesting?
By Brian Klaas
The Washington Post
There is an enormous paradox at the heart of American democracy. Congress is deeply and stubbornly unpopular. On average, between 10 and 15 percent of Americans approve of Congress – on a par with public support for traffic jams and cockroaches. And yet, in the 2016 election, only eight incumbents – eight out of a body of 435 representatives – were defeated at the…
Inside Elections: Fight Over Congressional Redistricting Begins With Key Gubernatorial Contests
By Stuart Rothenberg
Inside Elections with Nathan Gonzales
While the 2020 census is still three years away, the fight for control of the congressional redistricting process is underway — in developing gubernatorial contests in a handful of key states.
Yes, there are plenty of unknowns about reapportionment and redistricting, since the courts, the Trump Justice Department and state legislators will…
Washington Post: Republican Redistricting Is Taking A Beating In The Courts, Right Now
By Amber Phillips
The Washington Post
Recent court decisions in three states are putting carefully carved Republican-drawn state legislative districts at risk — and could even threaten the entire process of partisan map drawing.
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St. Louis Post Dispatch Editorial: The 2020 Census Is Key To Democrats’ Hopes For A Rebound
By The Editorial Board
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By law, legislative redistricting isn’t supposed to be a partisan process. In practice, it almost always is. This fundamental building block of our democracy is flawed because it has been so badly abused by the people drawing the lines.
Congressional districts must be of nearly equal population; legislative districts must be “substantially” equal in size…
Huffington Post: Rebuilding The Democratic Machine
By Chris Weigant
The Huffington Post
The Democratic Party is in pretty dire straights at the moment. Republicans not only control the United States Senate, the House of Representatives, and the White House, but when you take a look down at the state level, things are even more depressing. Republicans have full control (both statehouses and the governor’s office) in 25 states. Democrats only have complete…
Think Progress: The Only Way Democrats Can Win The 2020 Redistricting Fight
By Ian Millhiser
Think Progress
Democrats will bring out some big guns to combat the partisan gerrymandering that helps lock in Republican control of the House of Representatives and many state legislatures. Yet, a recent speech by one of these big guns suggests that they have not fully thought through the full extent of the challenges facing their party — or the appropriate solutions to address these…