If there’s one thing I remember from Mr. Ryan’s AP Human Geography class, it’s gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is the process of manipulating boundaries to favor a political party or group. If you look at a map of congressional districts in the United States, you’ll see some pretty strange shapes. In fact, the term “gerrymander” comes from a review criticizing Massachusetts’ Governor Elbridge Gerry’s 1812 redistricting map by likening it to a salamander. In my opinion, Maryland’s third congressional district looks like an abstract bicycle and Texas’ 35th district looks like a deflated balloon.
Politicians use techniques like “cracking” (spreading supporters of the opposition across multiple districts) or “packing” (lumping all of your opposition into one district) to dilute their opposition’s voting power and influence. The Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that gerrymandering was legal, unless it is based on race, under Equal Protection Clause.
Typically, district lines are redrawn every ten years, following the census. The party in power will usually change district boundaries to weaken their opponents’ control over state legislature and representation, which is known as partisan redistricting. However, Texas Governor Greg Abbott planned to redraw Texas’s districts early to bolster the Republicans’ thin majority in the House of Representatives. President Donald Trump encouraged Abbott and other Republican state leaders to redraw their districts to try to keep Republican control after November’s midterm elections.
Texas Democrats tried to thwart Abbot’s mission by fleeing the state to avoid voting. The vote was delayed by two weeks until Abbott threatened to arrest them. Abbot also had the politicians escorted by police in order to ensure that they would not try and delay the vote a second time. Texas lawmaker Nicole Collier slept on the floor of the statehouse chamber in protest, and other Democrats joined her impromptu sleepover on the second night. Despite their protests, the map was passed by an 88-52 vote. The new map was quickly approved by the Texas State Senate and is expected to be signed into law by Abbott later this week.
“Big WIN for the Great State of Texas!!!!,” President Trump said on Truth Social. “Everything Passes, on our way to FIVE more Congressional seats and saving your Rights, your Freedoms, and your Country, itself. Texas never lets us down.” How are our rights and freedoms being saved, if the districts were redrawn without the people’s say?
In response to Texas’s redistricting, California Governor Gavin Newsom plans to redraw California’s district boundaries to counteract the seats gained from Texas. California Democrats will have an uphill battle to redraw their state, as voters will be able to decide whether or not to redistrict during their upcoming special election. In the past, California voters supported using a non-partisan commission to decide district boundaries instead of elected officials. Other Democratic states would face similar barriers if they wanted to follow California’s example.
Although gerrymandering is legal, it is unusual for the president and lawmakers to be so upfront about their intentions behind it. “Congrats to the Texas House on passing the One Big Beautiful Map,” Abbott said on X. “It will make Texas, and Congress, a brighter shade of Red.” I didn’t know it was cool to publicly support voter suppression, but whatever.
“Congratulations to @GregAbbott_TX — you will now go down in history as one of Donald Trump’s most loyal lapdogs,” Newsom responded on X. “Shredding our nation’s founding principles. What a legacy.”
While our elected officials are busy fighting on X, it is becoming clear that voters on both sides of the political aisle will be most impacted by the gerrymander race. It may be only a few states now, but how long until every congressional district is gerrymandered after every election cycle because each side wants more power? How long until the House of Representatives becomes obsolete because no one is accurately represented? Our politicians are fighting fire with fire, but we are the ones who will get burned.
