In early August 2019, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) held its annual meeting of a couple of hundred Republican lawmakers in Austin, Texas. There, they focused on one primary thing: the "political adult bloodsport," as one attendee called it, of gerrymandering, or how to lock in Republican power across the nation for another decade following the 2020 election and census.
Reported Talking Points Memo, "Led by Phil King, the Texas House redistricting chair and one of ALEC's most influential members, and Hans von Spakovsky, a conservative attorney and voter fraud alarmist, the speakers prepared attendees to be on the defensive and ready for litigation when they draw districts." That's what we know about what happened at the conference via a few leaks from attendees and from reporters who were allowed on the outskirts. Behind closed doors, though, is where most of the discussions happened. Legislators were told not to hang on to their notes from the meetings and to avoid discussing redistricting in emails with one another to ensure that the public could never learn what they're plotting.
"I have no doubt that there were a million things happening behind closed doors that we didn't know about," Anthony Gutierrez, executive director of Common Cause Texas, told Talking Points Memo. One thing that emerged from the leaks was a discussion of how legislators could exact the most control possible and thwart potential Democratic attorneys general in their states. "Be sure that your redistricting bill has a provision in it that says that you, the legislature, have the ability to defend any lawsuits filed against your redistricting plan and that you will have control of that over and above the state attorney general," von Spakovsky said.
This is all predicated on the assumption that Republicans control key legislatures, like in Texas or Virginia, state houses that could very well flip. That's just one of the reasons Daily Kos is working on flipping Virginia’s legislature this year and getting a head start on Texas with Eliz Markowitz's special election happening this fall.
These are immediate steps we can take to stop the Republicans’ nefarious plans, setting up for massive wins in 2020. Avoiding another decade of the GOP's stranglehold on our democracy is critical. We do it by beating them and not letting them keep cheating.
Let's get started turning Texas blue. Give $3 to this fantastic progressive right now! And we can flip Virginia this year!