Washington, D.C. – Today, following a decisive election where voters unequivocally rejected Republican gerrymandering as the cure to rising costs, John Bisognano, President of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), issued a new memo highlighting the mounting resistance to Republicans’ nationwide mid-decade gerrymandering scheme and the unprecedented backlash it is generating across the country.

In the memo, Bisognano points out that, given several dynamics, Donald Trump’s gerrymanders may not go as he planned in every state. Those dynamics include pending litigation, support from the people to fight back in red and blue states, and hesitation from Republicans in red states to pursue mid-decade gerrymanders.  

The full memo is available here. Excerpts from the memo are below:

“The American people see Donald Trump’s gerrymandering crisis threatening to draw them—the voters—out of a meaningful role in the electoral process, and the reaction has been forceful.   The plot to unfairly rig the midterm elections is meeting aggressive resistance in state after state from courts, voters, and both Republican and Democratic elected officials. 

“The Proposition 50 election results in California, juxtaposed against the broad bipartisan opposition to the redraws in Texas, Missouri, and elsewhere, show the incredible breadth and depth of the opposition. When he launched the national gerrymandering crisis beginning in Texas this summer, Donald Trump may have thought he could gerrymander and get away with it. But that won’t be the case in every state, and as the passage of Proposition 50 demonstrates, it won’t go unchallenged by other states.”

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“The farther the country is drawn into this gerrymandering crisis, the more opposition builds as more states seek responsive options to protect the voting power of the American people. While the White House is pushing for new gerrymanders with a top-down approach, the response is coming from the bottom up.”

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“Republicans are warning about the backlash they’re likely to face for following orders from the White House, instead of listening to voters. The American people are furious that Republicans are weakening their voting power. Voters overwhelmingly support elected officials who fight back against it, cheering court decisions that protect their rights, and enacting ballot measures to counter Republican gerrymandering. The harder Republicans push against their voting rights, the sharper the backlash will be.”

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