The Department of Justice (DOJ) challenged the
redistricting plan recently put in place by Texas Republicans, claiming that it
is not fair to the minorities who have mainly been responsible for the population
growth in that state. This growth was mostly responsible for the state’s two newly
allocated seats for representatives. According to the lawsuit,
Texas “failed to draw a seat encompassing the growing Latino electorate in
Harris County” and “excised minority communities from the core of the
Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.” The lawsuit further claims that Latino
communities and districts were eliminated through exclusion or manipulation
from seats at the State House. This
new map also targeted current Congressional representatives and redrew the map
in Houston,
which had two African American reps. (Sheila Jackson-Lee and Al Green) into the
same district, so only one could be elected. African Americans make up about
12% of the state’s population and currently African Americans hold five
Congressional seats in the Texas delegation.
According
to recent census data published in the Texas
Tribune, “Texans of color accounted for 95% of the state’s population
growth. The 2020 census puts the state’s population at 29,145,505 — a 16% jump
from 25.1 million in 2010. Hispanic Texans handled half of that
increase. Non-Hispanic white Texans now make up just 39.8% of the state’s
population — down from 45% in 2010. Meanwhile, the share of Hispanic Texans has
grown to 39.3%.”
Attorney-General Garland
further noted that if the Voting Rights Act provisions for pre-clearance were
still in effect, that Texas could not have taken these steps without DOJ approval.
Pre-clearance was taken out of the Voting Rights Bill in the Supreme Court
Shelby County vs. Holder decision of 2013. Many, including myself, consider
this single move one of the worst decisions of the Roberts Court; indeed, the Chief Justice himself wrote
the opinion. Garland again urged the Senate to pass the Voting Rights legislation
already passed by the House, which reinstates the provision struck down by the
Court. I’ll mention more about this below.
Other states are also
creating new district maps as required by changes in the census. California and
Florida are still in the preliminary stages in their new maps, but those two
states alone handle 80 legislative seats. According to 538,
some changes can favor Democrats, but Republicans hold most of the statehouses
where the decisions take place. They further note that districts in Ohio and
North Carolina, drawn by Republicans, are so biased that they are likely to be
challenged by the courts. Virginia could not agree on the new district lines,
so the court appointed special masters who redrew the districts there. This has
caused some current Congressional representatives (Abigail Spanberger and
Elaine Luria) to no longer live in their newly drawn district, so they are
scrambling to learn their new constituents. Both Democrats are now considered
more vulnerable now that Republican Glenn Youngkin won the Governor’s race,
although Spanberger is considered to have the safer seat. Republicans have
already announced that they will target these three Democratic women who were elected
in the blue wave of 2018; the third one is Jennifer Wexler, who represents a
district where Youngkin did better than expected. So, as we have seen, Virginia
remains a purple state even though President Biden won there handily, Youngkin
drew many of the suburban voters back into the Republican tallies.
Maryland is, however, a
different story. 538 describes the current redistricting here.
Republican Governor Hogan created a commission that developed a map that was
redone by the Legislature in a recent special session. The Governor vetoed that
redrawn map. The Democrats, who control both houses in the State Assembly,
overrode his veto and so the newly drawn districts became law. Maryland is a
blue state, but it is blue in the core urban cities and counties and red in the
Western and eastern districts. Previous redistricting drew condemnation for its
District 3 Congressional map which snaked around several counties and crossed rivers
traditionally thought of as natural boundaries. District 3 still seems
gerrymandered, but maybe less so than before. The 6th District in
Western Maryland, long a Republican stronghold, was diluted with parts of more
Democratic Montgomery County and now is represented by a Democrat.
The lone Republican in the
Maryland Congressional corps is Andy
Harris in the 1st District, which covers the eastern shore and
parts of northern Maryland. That District has been changed to include more
areas with Democratic voters and make his reelection more challenging. Harris, an
anesthesiologist, and physician is an outlier in the delegation. He is a MAGA
supporter, Biden election denier, and abortion foe, whose most recent claim to
fame occurred when he tried to bring a gun onto the House floor. A suit has
been filed against him for improperly prescribing an animal medicine Ivermectin
for human patients; this use was promoted by many conspiracy enthusiasts and
vaccine deniers. Given his history, it remains surprising that Harris actually gave
the COVID vaccine to patients. Is it fair to make his district more Democratic?
Probably not, but that is the game of politics.
I am a Democrat and I
understand partisan redistricting and the concept-if they do it, we must do so
when we can have the advantage. I get it. But I firmly believe that there is a
better way to accomplish this. Some states already have non-partisan
commissions established to draw districts. According to Ballotpedia, fourteen
states already have commissions to draw their state redistricting maps and
eight states have them for the Congressional maps. Seven of these are
non-politician commissions; New Jersey is not. If a truly non-partisan
commission is established, then everyone will probably be somewhat unsatisfied
because each will see disappointments, but it will not disenfranchise voters as now. There are rules to follow–each Congressional District must
have about the same number of constituents–give or take a few, so that helps
set up the parameters.
The Brennan
Center is urging that the voting rights legislation be passed for many
reasons and the redistricting provisions are core to this belief. It recently
stated the following:
“At the core of the bill’s redistricting reforms is a robust statutory ban on
partisan gerrymandering in the drawing of congressional
maps that could be brought in federal court in Washington, D.C.. This ban would
fill the gaping hole left in 2019 when the Supreme Court held that
federal courts had no power to decide partisan gerrymandering claims asserted
under the U.S. Constitution, leaving the policing of gerrymandering instead to
Congress and the states.
A ban on partisan gerrymandering is a crucial protection for
communities of color. Whether gerrymanderers are Democrats or Republicans, the
targeting of communities of color is often the key to creating a map that
favors one party over the other. This cycle, map drawers in Texas and other
southern states are already defending racially discriminatory maps on the basis
that the maps were drawn on a supposedly “color-blind” basis and
target Democrats rather than Black, Latino, and Asian voters — even though map
drawers are fully aware that their maps invariably dilute the power of
communities of color.”
I
fully agree with that assessment and hope to see this legislation, already
passed by the House, enacted by the Senate. To me, this and the companion bill
are the two most vital pieces of legislation before this Congress. It is the
last best chance we have to save free and fair elections in this country. Republicans
are decimating election boards, threatening state vote counting officials, and
putting partisans in place of respected election judges across the country. An article
in the NY Times describes how partisans are running for so-called minor
positions on election boards and school boards in an attempt to be in position
for the next elections, often catching Democrats off-guard. The article
describes some members who were at the January 6th events, returning
home ready to try to take over. They truly fear free elections and continue to
spread the MAGA lies, which endanger us all.
*******************************************************************************************
Covid
is still with us as the new variant Omicron is now identified in 25 states,
but cases are described as mild. Delta remains the dominant variant and is still
causing over 1000 deaths per day. Vaccinations have increased; perhaps people realize
that this is not going away quickly. As long as there are unvaccinated people
around who can spread the virus, it will remain among us. Maryland’s governor
reported that 90% of Marylanders have received at least one vaccine so far.
Maryland could not report any data for the past week as the computer system
apparently was compromised in some manner – whether it was a hack or a ransom
demand is not known.
COVID
Totals NY
Times:
Total
US Cases: 49,880,186. New Cases:119,288. Total Deaths: 795,921. New
Deaths:1,298.
***********************************************************************************************
Those
of you who watch MSNBC TV know that long-time network newsman Brian Williams
stepped down from his anchor position at the 11th Hour evening program.
He will be missed by many, including myself. I would like for you to hear his
parting remarks, which I repeat below.
In his on-air goodbye, Williams warned
against extremism in the country.
“My biggest worry is for my country,” Williams said. “I’m not a
liberal or a conservative. I’m an institutionalist. I believe in this place.
And in my love of my country, I yield to no one, but the darkness on the edge
of town has spread to roads and highways and neighborhoods.”
“It’s now at the local bar, and the bowling
alley, at the school board, in the grocery store.”
“Grown men and women who swore an oath to our constitution,
elected by our constituents, possessing the kinds of college degrees I can only
dream of have decided to join the mob and become something they are not, hoping
we somehow forget who they were,”
Williams continued. “They’ve decided to burn it all down with us
inside. That should scare you to no end as much as it scares an aging volunteer
fireman.”
As
Lawrence O’Donnell might say–Brian
Williams gets the last word.
“Til
next week–Peace!
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