Does the mid-decade redistricting war signal a democracy death spiral?
Hello Richard,
For political hounds, there are very few undertakings so full of drama as the periodic redrawing of the geographic boundaries of political districts. But for most people, the once-a-decade redistricting process is more likely pure arcana. Even the term “redistricting” threatens to put one to sleep.
That may have changed this summer when an already polarized country witnessed the brute power politics of Texas Republicans. For many, it may have been an eye-opening moment about how partisan technocrats can maintain power through data-driven manipulation of political district boundaries.
Given that the Republican party today holds a very small majority in the House, that Democrats take control after 2026 would be a pretty good bet in a normal year. That’s because in the midterm elections after a presidential election year, the president’s party more often than not loses seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, and with that, control of the House.
But this isn’t a normal year. Texas, a state where Republicans have proven before they are willing to tinker with geographic district lines to ensure they capture more political power, has made sure of that. This summer, President Donald Trump urged Republicans in that big state to redraw their maps, pronto, to help Republicans keep control of Congress in 2026, and thereby protect his own power.
They did just that. And now, in a democratic death spiral, Democratic states are maneuvering to do the same.
Why a death spiral? Because when lawmakers draw a political district to advantage their own party, called partisan gerrymandering, the end result more often than not is a general election with a predictable ending. Seats that are safe for a political party mean the only real election is during the primary. Most people don’t have good choices during elections if they live in districts with such safe seats. What sort of democracy is that?
New Mexico isn’t immune to gerrymandering. Safe seats for state lawmakers in particular are much more common now than they were not too long ago.
That’s why a growing number of our citizen lawmakers who believe in democracy have become partial to the idea of independent redistricting commissions. The idea is to take the politics out of redistricting so that more people have more choices during elections. But now, the national tumult over redistricting has significantly damaged this growing movement.
