As always, the contents of this blog represent a compendium of multiple media reports supplemented by my personal opinion where indicated.
Gerrymandering is the act of manipulating the redistribution of electoral districts in order to favor a particular candidate or political party. It has been prominent in the news recently, as both political parties have been engaging in the practice to gain an edge in Congressional representation as well as in their own state legislatures. This practice is especially significant now in advance of the 2026 midterm elections. Currently, the Republicans have very slim margins in both the Senate and the House, and maintaining control will be difficult but crucial. I believe if the Dems seize control of one or both houses, they will seek to stifle Trump’s agenda and possibly impeach him again on some “trumped up” charges. More on this later.
The law requires redistribution in at least every decade. Traditionally, these redistributions have been effectuated in response to periodic census results. The law requires such redistributions to be equitable. One of its major requirements is not to disadvantage any race. As you will see below, all too often, that has not been the case.
According to Wikipedia the practice of gerrymandering originated in 1812 when Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry signed a bill that resulted in the manipulation of electoral districts in a partisan manner with the intention of benefiting his Democratic-Republican Party. It concentrated Federalist voters into a few districts (packing) while spreading Democratic-Republican voters across many districts to maximize their influence. Of course, this was controversial, and the Boston Gazette conceived the term to lampoon the distorted, politically skewed maps. In particular, it denigrated one district it said was “shaped like a salamander.”
As I said, currently the practice has become quite common. For example, in just the last five years Alabama, Maryland, Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Illinois, and Utah, among others, have or are planning to gerrymander. Both political parties have engaged in or are planning to engage in this practice and always to the advantage of the party in power in that particular state. The goal is packing (concentrating the opposition party’s voters into a few “safe” districts where they will win by large margins, or cracking (widely dispersing the opposition’s voters so they rarely or never have a large enough majority to win a particular district). Some of these redistributions have been so egregiously inequitable that they have attracted the attention of the Judiciary.
Over the years there have been various cases involving redistricting. However, a few days ago the Supreme Court issued a ruling that promises to have a seismic effect regarding this issue. By a 6-3 margin it ruled that Louisiana’s redistricting plan, (which had been mandated by a federal judge in 2014) in which the state had packed black voters into a newly-created second black majority district constituted a violation of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which guarantees all citizens equal protection under the law. The court ruled that this practice unduly reduced the statewide effect of the black vote,
The ruling was very controversial and has precipitated vitriolic objections from many black leaders, Dem politicians and their supporters. For example, NAACP President Derrick Johnson characterized it as a “license for corrupt politicians who want to rig the system by silencing entire communities.” In fact, the opposite is true. The Court’s main objection was Louisiana’s packing blacks into just the two black heavily majority districts, which they would win anyway, and which had resulted in more congressional seats for whites at the expense of blacks.
Conclusion
This ruling will likely impact many states. They will have to redistribute their voting districts before the 2026 elections. Most of these redistributions will favor one party or the other. The key question is which party will benefit on a net basis. Early indications are that the G.O.P will benefit more as the current districting is viewed as more favorable to Dems, but we will have to wait and see. Politics aside I believe this was the right decision to foster voter equality.
We Built It Blog by Larry Jacob 