REDISTRICTING: NY appeals court gives Democrats a chance to take back GOP House seats
After a court gave the Democrat-controlled legislature the chance to gerrymander in their own party's favor. Should they take it?
washingtonpress.com
REDISTRICTING: NY appeals court gives Democrats a chance to take back GOP House seats
by JASON MICIAK
A New York appeals court agreed with the Democrats in a ruling issued Wednesday, and now the question becomes, should the Democratic NY state legislature create ridiculously gerrymandered districts akin to Republican districts in Florida and Texas?
Or do they take a chance at being responsible grown-ups?
At least Democrats get to make the argument.
The court ordered New York’s bipartisan redistricting commission to immediately restart the process that would have the practical effect of giving the Democrat-dominated State Legislature final say over New York’s 26 House districts for a decade.
It is not hyperbole to say that with today’s computers drawing districts to the block, New York could pick up ten to twelve seats. Texas and Florida are regularly picking up seats even with the states already gerrymandered.
Of course, one has to be willing to be that shameless.
Ignore the Canadian ridings (districts) in the tweet below, and just look at the Houston districts. Take a close, hard look at the red, green, and purple districts:
The willingness to be that cynical in drawing gerymandered districts is what assures politicians that they win a state, and it creates doubt as to whether real democracy can ever set in again in the U.S.
If democracy has a future in this country, Democrats must set the example.
Thankfully, look at Houston again, drawn to maximize Republicans in the House, and yet the Republicans still only have a five-seat lead.
Florida re-districted last year, creating five new Republican districts. There is your five-vote majority.
We have every reason to believe that if we just use pure democracy (Including the majority popular vote for president), Democrats would be in power until Republicans changed their policies to appeal to voters.
The issue in NY isn’t 100% settled.
Republicans have vowed to take the matter to the New York Court of Appeals. (New York is weird in that it names its district courts the “supreme courts” and the top court the Court of Appeals, even though it has lower courts of appeal.)
The Court of Appeals sent the maps back to Democrats last year, but Democrats had lost at the lower appellate level, so the likelihood is they hit the sweet spot this time.
This matters, according to The New York Times report:
If the Democrats want to expand the Supreme Court, make abortion access the law of the land, make a new voting rights act and continue to build 21st Century infrastructure, they need to control both Houses and the presidency, along with finding Democrats willing to do away with the filibuster.
But again, this is not as easy an answer as one might think.
It is doubtful that Democrats would go as insane as Republicans in Houston (That would likely be medically impossible). And they will surely draw them to their advantage.
But will Democrats take maximum advantage or put their bet on democracy?
I know I would do the latter. Someone must be the adult, or we’re never coming back.
This column is based on original reporting by Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times