The first general election since the 2021 redistricting cycle

Washington, D.C. — Today, Eric H. Holder, Jr., the 82nd Attorney General of the United States and Chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), released the following statement in response to the 2022 election, the first general election to take place since the 2021 redistricting cycle: 

“This year is different from previous midterm elections for a variety of reasons, including the fact that we have more fair maps than we have had for decades. While we all wait for more results to come in, it is undeniable that fair maps with competitive seats in states like North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Michigan, New Hampshire, Colorado and elsewhere kept the House competitive for Democrats. Republican efforts to gerrymander in the extreme—like they did in Florida—were largely stopped. This is true not only at the federal level but, very importantly, at the state level as well where a number of chambers have been flipped. Had Republicans succeeded in creating their so-called ‘durable’ majority through redistricting as they did in 2011, the outcome of the battle for the House and state legislatures would look very different today. 

“I’ve believed consistently that wherever Democrats can fairly compete, they can win. The election results underscore that. Unlike Republicans, Democrats don’t need to gerrymander to win—if the maps are fair, Democrats will do just fine. We saw that truth last night. The fight for fair maps is far from over, with two redistricting cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and nine other lawsuits against Republican gerrymandered maps in state and federal courts. We must also realize that too many Americans in too many states continue to be impacted by partisan and racial gerrymandering. The fight continues. But today, we celebrate the fact that, thanks to the tenacity of the people, fairness and democracy have been enhanced in our nation.”

KEY TAKEAWAYS ON 2022 ELECTION RESULTS:

NDRC’s comprehensive strategy delivered the fairest congressional map in 40 years: A New York Times analysis found that the new congressional map is the fairest map in 40 years, eliminating the structural advantage Republicans held last decade and giving both Republicans and Democrats an opportunity to compete for the U.S. House of Representatives this decade. In 2012, after Republicans drew a heavily gerrymandered congressional map, they won the House and held it for nearly the entire decade. Today, following this decade’s redistricting process, both parties have a chance at attaining the House majority.

This fair congressional map is the result of NDRC’s years-long comprehensive strategy leading up to and during the 2021-2022 redistricting cycle, which, under the leadership of Attorney General Eric Holder, changed the game in redistricting. That strategy started with our efforts to shift the balance of power in redistricting by electing Democrats and supporting redistricting reforms, resulting in a decrease of Republican control over redistricting by more than 20 percent from the prior decade. As the redistricting cycle unfolded, NDRC and its affiliates used every tool available, from grassroots organizing to litigation, to stop Republican gerrymandering and prevent them from using the redistricting process to ensure themselves a “durable” House majority. As a result of that work, Americans now have the fairest House map in a generation, and it will remain competitive in the years to come.

In competitive districts, Democrats are doing fine: In states with fair maps –  such as Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Hampshire, Colorado and California – competitive seats kept the House majority competitive for Democrats. In all of these states, Democrats are winning most, if not all, of the competitive districts. These districts will only get better for Democrats over the course of the next decade. 

Republicans are getting most of their wins in states where they gerrymandered, but many of those maps are still in court: According to a Politico analysis, Republicans have won most of their seats in states where they gerrymandered, including Florida and Texas. The NDRC’s affiliates are involved in nine active lawsuits against Republican gerrymandered maps in these states and others. In addition to that, an NDRC affiliate is supporting the respondents in two redistricting cases that are going before the U.S. Supreme Court this term: Moore v. Harper and Merrill v. Milligan. Throughout the 2021 redistricting cycle, judges of both parties struck down Republican maps as unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders.

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