Friday, October 1, 2021

Gerrymander--what is it good for?

When my wife and I were young, we had two friends who became members of the California assembly. Once there they created two congressional districts for themselves. Both remained valuable members of congress for the rest of their working lives. They were Democrats. 

That sort of thing can no longer happen in California.  Now independent commissions shape the districts, following state rules. 

In 26 states today the Republicans control the gerrymandering process, and the Democrats control it in about half that number. In roughly ten states an independent commission does the work.  

Some of the states are so small that they have only one member of the house (and, ridiculously, two senators). In states like that, no federal gerrymander is possible. 

Many of the Republican states (Mississippi, Alabama?) are already gerrymandered to the cockles of their bowels. It will be hard to make them worse.

Oregon is gaining seats that will likely go to Democrats. In New York the Democrats will be in control of gerrymandering for the first time in decades, and the Republicans may lose four or five rotten seats as a result. I expect the states where control has shifted to see the big changes. 

I have no idea how all this adds up. 

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