Politico reports former Attorney General Eric Holder will chair a new group called the National Democratic Redistricting Committee to fight Republican gerrymandering ahead of the 2020 Census round of redistricting. Even more crucially, President Obama also stated it will be his primary political focus once he leaves office. This is fantastic news, since Republicans vastly out-organized Democrats during the last round of redistricting, and they consequently controlled the process in state after state following their 2010 midterm wave.
Roughly 55 percent of congressional districts were drawn to favor Republicans and just 10 percent for Democrats. This massive redistricting disparity likely cost Democrats the House in 2012 and could very well do so again in 2016, making Democrats’ path to a majority very difficult. Many state legislatures are even worse, with Republicans in states like Michigan persistently winning gerrymandered majorities despite losing the popular vote. Gerrymandering is quite simply a national crisis that undermines our democracy.
We previously detailed extensively just how exactly Democrats can fight back against Republican gerrymanders ahead of 2020. The party is preparing to target key elections for state legislatures and governors to block Republicans from passing their maps. Democrats will also aim to win crucial state judicial elections and fund anti-gerrymandering lawsuits, potentially even taking their case to the United States Supreme Court if Team Blue wins the Senate in 2016 and can appoint a fifth Democratic-leaning justice. Lastly, Democrats will back ballot initiatives to directly reform redistricting rules in important states like Florida.
These efforts could cost over $100 millions of dollars and require unprecedented co-ordination from Democrats at the national level. That’s where Obama’s involvement could go a long way toward giving Democrats the resources they need to combat Republican efforts to rig the process in state after state. Democrats won’t have an easy fight ahead of them if we hope to level the playing fields in Congress and state legislatures, which tilt heavily Republican in so many states. However, Democrats at the very top of the party getting engaged in the battle against gerrymandering is an excellent step in the right direction.
Election Day is fast approaching, and we need all hands on deck. With the PCCC and Daily Kos, no matter where you live, you can call key voters in districts where progressive Democrats are in tight races. Click here to get started.
