There has always been a practical reason why states have not previously embraced mid-decade redistricting. Besides the basic fact that it is undemocratic, there is also the possibility that it doesn’t work, or backfires on the party trying to gerrymander their way to a midterm House majority.
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Trump’s poll numbers have the look and stench of a term-limited president who is set to become a lame duck as the opposition party appears ready to sweep back into power.
Republicans could have come up with some good policy ideas or maybe addressed the issues that voters care most about, instead of cutting taxes for billionaires and redecorating the White House, but that would have taken work and an effort to understand what the American people want.
Trump’s idea was to try to cheat his way to victory by forcing Republican run states to gerrymander their congressional maps.
The president got Texas to fall in line right away, creating up to 5 new Republican House seats. North Carolina gerrymandered one additional Republican seat.
Then the wheels started to fall off for Republicans. Ohio Republicans were scared out of an aggressive gerrymander by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. A Utah judge tossed out the MAGA-drawn map of that state and set up an additional Democratic leaning district. California passed Prop 50 to counter the Texas gerrymander with five new Democratic House districts.
Trump was counting on other red states to come through for him, but he got some very bad news about one that he has had his eyes on for months.
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