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 expulsion of two Democratic member of the Tennessee House of Representatives: 

“Over the past few years, too many in the Republican Party have employed a series of strategies to suppress the voice of the people, from partisan and racial gerrymandering to voter suppression to outright intimidation.  Now, without any pretense of justification, they are in Tennessee removing duly elected Democratic lawmakers from office.  Make no mistake, these unAmerican efforts to sabotage our democracy would not be possible without first rigging the electoral maps to prevent free and fair elections where the will of the people might be fully expressed.

“There is a sickening comfort with bending and breaking the foundations of our democracy for the acquisition and maintenance of partisan power for too many within the Republican Party – especially when the people whose rights are most violated are people of color. What we have witnessed in Tennessee these past two days and, more broadly, around the country in recent years unequivocally demonstrates this.”

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