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COLLINS: Would you support a national ban on gerrymandering?

CROCKETT: I would. I would.

COLLINS: So, if it came up, you'd vote for that?

CROCKETT: I would absolutely support a national ban on gerrymandering because I believe in fairness.

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The only point of the new 13th District lines, fashioned in the redistricting after the 2020 Census, was to gather together far-flung Democrats to create another Democratic congressional district.

Mission accomplished: The 13th went from being a competitive district long held by a Republican to flipping to the Democrats in 2022.

Overall, Illinois lost one district after the 2020 Census and managed to write lines that changed the congressional ratio from a 13-5 Democratic advantage to a 14-3 Democratic advantage.

The political analysis website 538 called the new map “the worst gerrymander in the country drawn by Democrats.”

This makes it especially inapt that a contingent of Texas Democrats fleeing the Lone Star State to try to stop what they consider unfair new congressional boundaries found a safe harbor in Illinois.

Next time, their travel agent should do a hypocrisy check before booking a destination.

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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker welcomed the self-exiling Democrats and hailed their courage.

He told them that he and other top Democrats in the state were pleased “to stand in solidarity with you and send a clear message to all Americans.”

His conscience showed no sign of being pricked by the fact that he signed into law the redistricting that saw Republicans in 2022 win nearly 44% of the popular vote in Illinois congressional races — and only 18% of the congressional seats.

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Gov. Gavin Newsom is making similar noises, but the California map is already tilted toward Democrats: Republicans won nearly 40% of the congressional vote in the Golden State in 2024, but only about 17% of the seats.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
There are about 42,000 zip codes in the USA, and 435 seats. Maybe combining 100 zip codes in a somewhat square pattern into one district would be a more objective way of mapping.

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Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:
Population is the basis for allocating the number of seats per state.
CA does not get extra seats because it is all Mexicans. In fact, CA has less representation than any other state, due to the Democrat formula for Congressional Seat apportionment. Then TX, FL, NY, etc. Meaning more population, on average, per CD.
NY does not get extra seats because they (currently) host Wall Street.
AK does not get extra seats because it has the oil.

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Why not be the basis for within each state, as well? Could even be apportioned similar to the states - urban counties get fewer representatives per population.

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If left at that, Republicans would probably have contained their cynical gerrymander ambitions to Texas, maybe even suffered voter blowback for the partisan move. The left’s mistake was to take the dare and escalate. Democratic governors fanned out to declare they now had “no choice” but to redraw their own lines. It’s a mystery what Democrats thought they’d accomplish beyond provoking Republicans to escalate further.

In a nationwide redistricting race, Democrats don’t have much running room. They’ve already redistricted the dickens out of their states. Where do they think Republicans got the idea?

Consider New Jersey, where Democrats control nine of 12 congressional seats, despite 45% of House votes going to Republicans. Illinois: 14 of 17 seats, though Democrats won but 53% of the vote. Oregon: five of six seats, despite a GOP vote of 42%. Or Ms. Healey’s Massachusetts, where Democrats control all nine congressional seats.

Here’s a bit of math, provided by the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, that shows how effective the party has been at gerrymandering. States with Democratic state legislative majorities currently control the lines for about 35 GOP seats—all that’s left after their aggressive maps. By contrast, Republican state legislative majorities control the lines for 55 Democratic seats. The difference is the GOP advantage in the war Democrats have escalated. Whoops.

Add to this that many blue states have complicated their redistricting efforts by adopting “independent” commissions. Democrats recognized that mistake years ago and tried to remedy it with national legislation foisting such commissions on every state, but Congress didn’t pass it. So Gov. Gavin Newsom has concocted a plan that requires first a supermajority of California lawmakers and then voters themselves to sideline the commission they embraced in 2008.

Could Democrats eke out a few more seats? Sure. They are skilled at this and at least as ruthless as Republicans. But Democrats are in trouble if Republicans exercise their comparative advantage.

Republicans were already redrawing lines in Ohio, where they could gain two to three seats. The party is now actively looking to redraw in Florida, Missouri, Indiana, South Carolina and New Hampshire. It may also use redistricting to shore up seats like that of retiring Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, denying Democrats pickup opportunities.

The Democrats’ aggressive throw-down—both their redistricting threats and the walkout of Texas lawmakers in an effort to thwart a quorum—is also changing the political dynamic. Many state-level Republicans would prefer to leave maps alone, given potential anger from centrist voters and legal battles. But with the base getting worked up by the issue, the pressure is growing to act. (“Oh yeah?” “Yeah!”) In Texas, lawmakers were unenthusiastic about a map fight until President Trump made it an issue. Now they’re issuing civil arrest warrants for Democrats who fled the state.

It could be that Democrats have a different political goal in mind. The redistricting fight has provided the party a unifying grievance for the first time since the 2024 election. It’s as nonsensical as past Democratic claims of “Jim Crow” election reforms and “racist” filibusters, but outrage sells.

Speaking of goals, the left might worry that some of the Democratic governors leading this fight (Mr. Newsom, Illinois’s JB Pritzker) have more than the party’s well-being in mind. What better way to dominate the national discussion and position for a coming Democratic presidential primary than to act as resister in chief to the Republican redistricting threat? Even if they fail to change maps, they still showed fight. Democratic voters are unlikely to blame them for provoking Republicans.

But make no mistake: Democrats gave the GOP an excuse to go nuclear in a war in which the left lacks fissile material. In a world where both sides are willing to maneuver for base partisan advantage, political calculations by necessity must change. Consider this a good example of failure to adapt.

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