18 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY AUGUST 28-SEPTEMBER 3, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com Vote Is In Democratic Party leaders are talking tough about retaliatory gerrymandering, but falling short. By David Daley and David Faris FORUM Gavin Newsom, Kathy Hochul and J.B. Pritzker have had it. Texas wants to steal five U.S. House seats and boost the GOP’s midterm hopes through a mid-decade gerrymander. Blue-state governors have delivered furious press conferences. They’re not bringing a knife to a redistricting gunfight this time, no sir. They’re packing bazookas. They’re “fighting fire with fire.” The best way to prevent mid-decade redistricting, of course, would have been to understand the math and exercise Democratic trifecta power to outlaw everything associated with this antidemocratic scourge during the first two years of the Biden administration. But here we are. These governors are at least fighting, but it’s a battle they cannot win. They are readying for yesterday’s war, already lost. Democrats can’t gerrymander themselves out of their gerrymander problem. The numbers don’t add up. All the gunfight metaphors can’t change that simple reality. Newsom may well win if California voters approve his plan. Tough-talking Hochul and Pritzker, however, would need a time machine. Maybe that time machine could be set for 2010, when the Democrats’ real redistricting problems began. Ever since then, Republicans have a whole lot more states where they can rig maps than Democrats. In most states where mid-decade redistricting is possible, the legislature and the governor control the maps. The problem for Democrats is that they lack trifecta control in as many states as the Republicans have it. Much of this is their own fault. Democrats fell asleep on redistricting 15 years ago, surrendered the process to the far more motivated and ruthless GOP, and have not sniffed control of a state legislative chamber in North Carolina, Wisconsin, Ohio, Georgia, or Florida ever since. Let’s say—and it’s hardly a given—that California voters accept Newsom’s plan to counteract the Texas gerrymander by pausing their independent commission and enacting a gerrymandered map with five new blue seats. The GOP won’t stop with Texas. Democrats still will have nowhere else to go. The Democratic strategy has to be winning elections, not gerrymandering. If Democrats think they can out-Republican Republicans on maps, they’re finished. Instead of a hopeless “we’ll gerrymander too” strategy, let’s prepare DOGE 2 for reinventing American democracy for everyone. The current administration has shown how quickly government can be transformed, if those who hold power decide they will use it. Imagine a First 100 Days project to transform the way we elect the House, reform and expand the U.S. Supreme Court, add states, and restore voting rights. Democracy first; everything else second. David Daley is the author of Ratf**ked: Why Your Vote Doesn’t Count and Unrigged: How Americans Are Battling Back to Save Democracy. David Faris is a professor of political science at Roosevelt University and the author of It’s Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics. This story first appeared in The Nation. OPINION The strategy has to be winning elections, not gerrymandering. Don’t miss this opportunity to stand out among the finest arts available in Monterey County and deliver your marketing message to the Weekly’s active and engaged audience. FALL INTO THE ARTS Be a part of Monterey County Weekly’s annual Fall Arts Issue Fall Arts Preview FOR MORE INFO: 831-394-5656 sales@montereycountynow.com ADVERTISING DEADLINE: September 22 PUBLICATION DATE: September 25
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