Abigail Spanberger and the Virginia Democrats.

[Tidewater]

As I predicted.
It is still in the future, so who knows, but I will be surprised if this "temporary measure" turns out to be temporary.

 

[92tide]

i would happily support a nationwide gerrymandering ban requiring all states to use a nonpartisan districting commission to draw congressional districts

 

[75thru79]

i would happily support a nationwide gerrymandering ban requiring all states to use a nonpartisan districting commission to draw congressional districts

Drawing voting maps almost entirely on the color of people's skin is probably one of the worst things ever done in this country. I don't care which side is doing it. When you draw a map in a state where the citizenship is split 60-40, Democrats and Republicans, and the end result is a 90-10 split it should be illegal. Who wants to live in a state where you have no political representation? We're not talking a fringe group here, we're talking about 40% of the voters in Virginia that will have no representation in Washington. This is not sustainable and is only going to harm us.

 

[arthurdawg]

Drawing voting maps almost entirely on the color of people's skin is probably one of the worst things ever done in this country. I don't care which side is doing it. When you draw a map in a state where the citizenship is split 60-40, Democrats and Republicans, and the end result is a 90-10 split it should be illegal. Who wants to live in a state where you have no political representation? We're not talking a fringe group here, we're talking about 40% of the voters in Virginia that will have no representation in Washington. This is not sustainable and is only going to harm us.

i would happily support a nationwide gerrymandering ban requiring all states to use a nonpartisan districting commission to draw congressional districts

This... The democrats doing this in Virginia in response to Texas and other states planning to do so is perfectly reasonable in that they can't let themselves be maneuvered out of any chance of winning. But it is also just continuing to escalate our underlying issues.

But it should be as 92 suggests. Then you end up with closer margins and the swing vote will curb the enthusiasm of the party in power and push things toward the center.

 

[Tidewater]

i would happily support a nationwide gerrymandering ban requiring all states to use a nonpartisan districting commission to draw congressional districts

Agreed, but, in a federal republic, this would require a constitutional amendment.
States hotly debated and jealously guarded their control over local elections.

 

[crimsonaudio]

the concern trolling and pearl clutching about this will be epic

Both sides should be outraged, but instead the repubs will double down on Texas and the dems will do more of this in their states.

The gerrymandering is past the point of ridiculous now but it doesn't matter in our modern era of 'team sport politics'...

 

[92tide]

Both sides should be outraged, but instead the repubs will double down on Texas and the dems will do more of this in their states.

The gerrymandering is past the point of ridiculous now but it doesn't matter in our modern era of 'team sport politics'...

it remains to be seen if texas’ efforts will bite them in the ass as it seems that they were assuming the ‘24 shift in hispanic support would continue apace

 

[Tidewater]

Both sides should be outraged, but instead the repubs will double down on Texas and the dems will do more of this in their states.

The gerrymandering is past the point of ridiculous now but it doesn't matter in our modern era of 'team sport politics'...

The disheartening thing is that Virginia, on a bi-partisan basis, had done the right thing (a non-partisan election committee) and yesterday we undid the right thing.

Just out of curiosity, I ran the numbers for the presidential, congressional delegations for what I perceived were the most gerrymandered states.
Here are the results:

Both parties continue to act as if they will never lose an election, as if the other party is not going to use the tool they themselves just used. If we want more hyperpartisan behavior, they is how you do it.

 

[CrimsonJazz]

When people feel like democracy is no longer a thing and that their votes no longer count, the door has been opened for revolution/terrorism. True, many will simply fade into apathetic obscurity, but the angry ones.....not so much. I see trouble on the horizon and a lot of it.

 

[crimsonaudio]

it remains to be seen if texas’ efforts will bite them in the ass as it seems that they were assuming the ‘24 shift in hispanic support would continue apace

Point remains - whether it works or backfires, the intent is plain wrong.

 

[dtgreg]

Drawing voting maps almost entirely on the color of people's skin is probably one of the worst things ever done in this country. I don't care which side is doing it. When you draw a map in a state where the citizenship is split 60-40, Democrats and Republicans, and the end result is a 90-10 split it should be illegal. Who wants to live in a state where you have no political representation? We're not talking a fringe group here, we're talking about 40% of the voters in Virginia that will have no representation in Washington. This is not sustainable and is only going to harm us.

You're right! What are your opinions on Texas?

 

[75thru79]

You're right! What are your opinions on Texas?

If the new maps in Texas result in a significant disparity in representation then it is wrong. If the map results in Republicans having 70/30 split when the underlying population is split 55/45 then it should not be allowed. The issue is there are several extremely large blue states (CA, IL, VA, NY) where the representation split is something like 10/1 Democrat while the population is something like 55/45. The Democrats have cornered the market on this so Republicans have a large gap to cover to make it somewhat fair. By the time this is all over the Democrats will only have extended their lead in misrepresentation.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

Point remains - whether it works or backfires, the intent is plain wrong.

Yes, 1,000%

You're right! What are your opinions on Texas?

Texas shouldn't do it either.

Gerrymandering has gone on ever since there were districts for anything. The difference here is the degree.

The Democrats are doing this for the same reason the Deep South enacted Jim Crow laws -- (1) because they feel threatened, (2) because they know they can't win by stating their true intentions. Remember, Spanberger ran as a moderate, but has governed far to the left and people are starting to catch on to the Democrats' bait-and-switch strategy. And (3) because they can.

Virginia voted for Harris 52 / 46 over Trump. Outside of Richmond, the western half of the state voted for Trump. The central and east-central part of the state also voted for Trump. Harris's votes came primarily from Richmond, the burbs of DC, and the southeast part of the state.



The new map gives 10 of 11 districts to the Democrats:


In a state that was close to evenly split 18 months ago.

For context, the current Alabama map gives two districts to Democrats, yet was heavily criticized as racist, though it did finally pass federal review. The main bone of contention was that the state's population is roughly 65% non-Hispanic white, 25% black, 5-6% Hispanic, and 4-5% other. But 5 of the 7 districts (about 72%) are majority white Republican.

In contrast, Virginia's vote is roughly evenly split, yet over 90% of Virginia's representatives will be Democrats.

That is unconscionable. Can you imagine if Alabama had drawn a new map with only one majority black district? It would be easy to do. If you split the City of Birmingham up into multiple districts, I bet you could have 0 majority black districts. Can you imagine the national uproar?

MSNBC would have it on endless loop 24/7, the NYT, WaPo, LAT and every major news outlet would open branch offices in Birmingham, and you'd hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth on the moon.

If Virginia had skewed the seats 6-5 or even 7-4 blue, I don't think you'd see the uproar. But 10-1 is a massive overreach. It's a Bronx cheer to half of their population and a childish, "Nyaahh, nyaahh....ya can't touch mEEeee!"

There will be a series of one-upmanship measures, countermeasures and counter-countermeasures in other states (yes, including Texas).

Politics is a fluid medium. Karma sometimes takes her time, but I predict the blues are going to regret the fallout from this move.

 

[92tide]

Point remains - whether it works or backfires, the intent is plain wrong.

georgia republicans lost bob barr’s and newt’s old districts a few years after their redistricting

 

[92tide]

funny how little concern there was until dems retaliated

 

[92tide]

gone on ever since there were districts for anything. The difference here is the degree.

The Democrats are doing this for the same reason the Deep South enacted Jim Crow laws -- (1) because they feel threatened, (2) because they know they can't win by stating their true intentions.

they literally just won a statewide election/referendum where they stated their true intentions

 

[CrimsonJazz]

BREAKING: A Virginia Circuit Court has just ruled yesterday's redistricting vote UNCONSTITUTIONAL, and has issued an injunction BLOCKING the results from being certified, per @KenCuccinelli

This is BIG. It’s NOT over yet!

It's very likely this will end up at the state Supreme Court, who will make the final decision.

Keep fighting!

https://twitter.com/x/status/2047044321497477271

Trying to verify............

 

[CrimsonJazz]

Court halts April 21 redistricting vote, siding with RNC and GOP lawmakers • Virginia Mercury

A Tazewell County Circuit Court judge on Thursday granted an emergency injunction blocking what Republicans call an unlawful April 21 redistricting referendum while the case is heard in court. Chief Judge Jack Hurley issued a temporary restraining order barring state and local election officials...

virginiamercury.com

In his written ruling, Hurley found the plaintiffs have an “extraordinarily high likelihood of success on the merits,” including their claim that the referendum violates the timing requirement of Article XII, Section 1 of the Virginia Constitution because early voting is set for “sooner than 90 days after” the January passage of House Joint Resolution 4.

Hurley also found the ballot language — particularly the phrase “restore fairness” — is likely misleading and violates the Constitution because it “would lead a voter to believe he or she were doing something unfair by voting against the proposed amendment.”

 

[4Q Basket Case]

BREAKING: A Virginia Circuit Court has just ruled yesterday's redistricting vote UNCONSTITUTIONAL, and has issued an injunction BLOCKING the results from being certified, per @KenCuccinelli

This is BIG. It’s NOT over yet!

It's very likely this will end up at the state Supreme Court, who will make the final decision.

Keep fighting!

https://twitter.com/x/status/2047044321497477271

Trying to verify............

I’m confused …. is the vote unconstitutional? If so, how did it happen in the first place?

Or was the map unconstitutional? Which I think it should be, but have read elsewhere that the Constitution has little control over how states conduct local elections.

But then, the Feds have told Alabama how to do them for 60 years.

You could make arguments and counter arguments, citing precedents for each.

Like I said, I’m confused.

 

[CrimsonJazz]

I’m confused …. is the vote unconstitutional? If so, how did it happen in the first place?

Or was the map unconstitutional? Which I think it should be, but have read elsewhere that the Constitution has little control over how states conduct local elections.

But then, the Feds have told Alabama how to do them for 60 years.

You could make arguments and counter arguments, citing precedents for each.

Like I said, I’m confused.

Apparently, so were the people voting. Most confusing of all is why the RNC sat back on its laurels and did practically nothing. To be honest, I've become so jaded, literally nothing can surprise me anymore.