Texas gerrymander battle spreads to other states

[TCC]

Texas gerrymander battle spreads to other states

If Texas adopts its new electoral map, blue states plan to retaliate with Democrat-favored districts

theweek.com

looks like this will likely go to supreme court...wow

What happened​

A fight over redistricting in Texas went nationwide this week, with Texas Democrats fleeing their state to block a vote on new electoral maps and blue states vowing to forge ahead with their own partisan gerrymanders. While congressional districts are typically redrawn once a decade after the census, President Trump asked Texas Republicans to do so now, hoping to deliver additional GOP seats for the House in next year's midterms. "I got the highest vote in the history of Texas," Trump said, speaking of the 2024 election, "and we are entitled to five more seats." To prevent Republicans from mustering a quorum for the vote, more than 50 Democratic state legislators hightailed it out of the state—heading for blue strongholds like Illinois and New York, beyond the reach of Texas arrest warrants. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to charge the absent Democrats with accepting bribes if they use donor money to cover the $500 fines they're incurring each day, and he filed a lawsuit to remove state Rep. Gene Wu, chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, from his seat for shirking his duties. "Denying the governor a quorum was not an abandonment of my office," Wu said. "It was a fulfillment of my oath."

 

[mattfivefour]

"Denying the governor a quorum was not an abandonment of my office," Wu said. "It was a fulfillment of my oath."

Nonsense. It was denying the will of the people. In a democracy, the will of the majority typically gets enacted; in a constitutional republic (which is what the United States is) minority rights benefit from certain protections which prevent the majority from running roughshod. But the place to object to the power of the majority in a constitutional republic is in court, in arguments based on the protective powers of the constitution, not by wildcat acts that disrupt the legislative process and thwart the legitimate will of the people.

 

[dwb]

I'm notorious for asking the "stupid questions". Why don't states simply divide into equal grids and use that for their districts? Sounds awful easy doesn't it. I'm sure some will call it evil, or denying people equal representation, but what could be fairer or more equitable? A simple formula using square mileage to determine the number of districts each state will have, and then divide into equal grids to determine each district. There would then be no whining or crying. Let the districts fall where they fall.

 

[dwb]

Nonsense. It was denying the will of the people. In a democracy, the will of the majority typically gets enacted; in a constitutional republic (which is what the United States is) minority rights benefit from certain protections which prevent the majority from running roughshod. But the place to object to the power of the majority in a constitutional republic is in court, in arguments based on the protective powers of the constitution, not by wildcat acts that disrupt the legislative process and thwart the legitimate will of the people.

As Obama once said "elections have consequences".

 

[mattfivefour]

I'm notorious for asking the "stupid questions". Why don't states simply divide into equal grids and use that for their districts? Sounds awful easy doesn't it. I'm sure some will call it evil, or denying people equal representation, but what could be fairer or more equitable? A simple formula using square mileage to determine the number of districts each state will have, and then divide into equal grids to determine each district. There would then be no whining or crying. Let the districts fall where they fall.

It seems logical. But under such a plan, some districts would have been few people, while others would have many, many people. How would that be fair, letting a few people be equal in political strength to a lot of people? Surely that would simply be giving more power to fewer people at the expense of the larger number.