To Gerrymander or Not? Are There More Options?

Texas and California lawmakers have been in the spotlight recently, sparking various opinions on the reality of gerrymandering.

The Scoop: Texas, following suggestions from President Donald Trump and a two-week standoff as Democratic lawmakers fled the state, has approved a new electoral map that favors Republicans and may have sparked a tit-for-tat gerrymandering fight in other states as well. California Governor Gavin Newsom approved a redistricting plan on Thursday in response to Texas Republicans’ approval, and New York Governor Kathy Hochul said, “Game on.”  

Democrats Outgunned: Noah Rothman (Lean Right bias), writing for National Review Opinion (Right), justified what he called “muscular politics” by explaining that Texas Republicans’ valid rationale behind the mid-decade redistricting move is to correct the undercounting of their state for future elections. According to Rothman, Texas “was one of many reddish states whose populations were undercounted in the 2020 census, depriving them of proper representation.” Regardless of the motive, in “a full-scale redistricting war,” he said, “the Democratic Party would be wise to take its lumps,” explaining “Democrats are outgunned, and they know it.”

Dismantling Democracy: Tony Strickland, writing for Fox News Opinion (Right) focuses on the “principle that voters, not political parties, should draw their own districts.” “Newsom’s backroom gerrymander gamble betrays voters and dismantles democracy,” according to Strickland. While Strickland focused much of the article on Newsom and California, he said, “When governors abandon a system built to prevent precisely this kind of manipulation, whether in Texas or California, they undermine democracy itself.”

A Way Out: The New York Times Editorial Board (Left) asked, “How often do Americans vote in competitive federal elections?” saying, “The answer is rarely.”  The board explained that within a nation, “split almost equally between Democrats and Republicans,” states are usually “solidly blue or red” with House districts “gerrymandered to guarantee a victory for one party.” Gerrymandering is “a form of cheating,” according to the board, and Congress should act to pass limits on the practice. Roland Fryer, a professor of economics at Harvard University, also wrote for The New York Times Opinion, posing the notion that geometry can solve gerrymandering. Fryer has created a measure called the “Relative Proximity Index,” a tool used to compare how geographically compact a real-world arrangement is (such as current political maps) to its most ideal, compact form. Fryer argued that if instituted properly, “it changes how many races are actually competitive, and how much voters’ choices can move the scoreboard.”     

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