When you’re a North Carolina native and political junkie and hear Democrats at the state and national levels whining about “gerrymandering,” it makes you laugh, considering my state is home to one of the most widely mocked and heavily litigated Congressional Districts in United States political history: NC-12.
Originally drawn by Democrats during their century-long reign of error, it has since been redrawn by the GOP-controlled General Assembly to be more compact, but here’s a version of what it used to look like:
No Republican has ever held this seat.
It is with that in mind that we return to the current redistricting battles shaping up in states like Texas and California, with the Lone Star state being one of many red states urged by President Donald Trump to redraw its Congressional maps. Meanwhile, the Golden State’s governor, Gavin Newsom (D), is floating a seemingly improbable plan to strike back in the event they do, though the state has a voter-approved independent redistricting panel already in place (although some might wonder if they are really all that “independent”).
And now, as New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) throws her state into the mix for a possible attempt at even more redistricting, and as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is also proposing the idea, we’re seeing a lot of handwringing by anxious state Democrat leaders and the mainstream media about what it all means for future control of Congress.
Here’s Politico, for instance:
Democrats are facing a redistricting problem as Republicans in Texas — and potentially other states — are redrawing their maps to create more Republican-leaning seats. But state Democrats say that the real problem is the party doesn’t do enough to try to flip state legislatures and put Democrats in charge of redrawing the lines in the future.
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee calls on its party to rethink their “failed federal-first strategy,” in a memo sent to donors and strategists obtained by POLITICO, and instead invest in winning seats in state legislatures ahead of 2030 redistricting.
[…]The memo indicates that 39 of 50 states give state legislatures control over congressional lines, and Republicans have been significantly more successful in controlling statehouses since investing millions into their “REDMAP” strategy in 2010. Following the 2024 election, seven states had veto-proof Democratic majorities, while 18 had veto-proof Republican majorities. The DLCC said failing to change that lopsided math will keep them out of power.
The DLCC has listed their 2025-2026 battlegrounds as Alaska, Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin, with Maine being on their “watch list.”
Meanwhile, a sympathetic report from the New York Times made an admission about Democrats, observing that in states where they have “complete control,” they’re already pretty much maxed out on what they can do:
But the toolbox for Democrats is relatively sparse, aside from litigation or legislative protests.
Though Democratic leaders have indicated a willingness to go tit for tat with Republicans, most of the largest blue states do not have a partisan redistricting process akin to the one in Texas, where the governor can simply call in the Legislature to redraw maps.
California has an independent commission in charge of drawing maps, which voters applied to congressional districts in 2010. New York also has a commission (though it is subject to potential legislative changes), and New Jersey’s political commission is separate from the Legislature.
States where Democrats would have complete control over any redistricting, such as Illinois and Maryland, are already gerrymandered heavily in their favor. Squeezing more Democratic seats out of those states would be a challenge.
To be quite frank, I’m not a purist on this issue at all after watching Democrats play hardball in North Carolina with redistricting, even after they finally lost control of the state legislature in 2010, with their Hurt Feelings Reports lawsuits over Republicans redrawing districts for state races and Congressional races being mired in the courts at various points for well over a decade (a strategy known here as “sue ’til blue“).
Facts.
Final thoughts from GOP political strategist Scott Jennings:
Hard to argue with that.
– Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via X. –
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY