Gerrymandering and hypocrisy

From Karl Rove (I know, another republican !@#^%#&!!!) Wall Street Journal column last week. The numbers don't lie. Check the last line and the picture.

Welcome to the sixth ditch of the eighth circle of hell, where in the “Divine Comedy” Dante met the hypocrites, condemned for eternity to wear gold-plated lead cloaks.

Illinois, New York and California are already gerrymandered to Democrats’ benefit. Donald Trump received 44% of the Illinois vote in 2024, yet 82% of the state’s U.S. representatives are Democrats. The figures are 43% for Mr. Trump and 73% for Democratic congressmen in New York then 38% for Mr. Trump and 83% for Democrats in California.

The numbers for Texas are far less lopsided. Mr. Trump received 56% of the 2024 vote, and 66% of the state’s House delegation—25 of 38 members—is Republican. Now these low-down, dirty Texas Republicans think they can flip five seats through redistricting. That would make the Texas delegation 79% GOP. In other words, a delegation slightly more partisan than New York but somewhat less so than Illinois and California. That also assumes Republicans can beat Rep. Henry Cuellar, a popular albeit troubled Democrat incumbent in South Texas who ran 6 points ahead of Kamala Harris last year. (Mr. Cuellar is under federal indictment on charges including bribery and money laundering. He has pleaded not guilty.)

Yes, Texas Republicans are taking advantage of their state legislative majority to tilt things their direction. But the skew in Illinois, New York and California is no accident either. Earlier this decade, Democrats in each state tilted things in their favor (although in New York under some constraint from state courts).

The worst of the three hypocritical governors is Mr. Pritzker, (Illinois Governor) a potential 2028 presidential hopeful, who presided over his state’s 2021 gerrymander.

2025_08_10 10_59 PM Office Lens


Comments

2 responses to “Gerrymandering and hypocrisy”

  1. Valeria Kondratiev Avatar
    Valeria Kondratiev

    How about just cutting district lines as square as possible, only dividing to make compact sections with equal numbers of people, without regard to race, ethnicity etc, and then not changing them. That would finally be fair and politicians would just have to work to win votes.

  2. tom faranda Avatar
    tom faranda

    “Work to win votes.” Are you kidding? Why would they want to do that?

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