Vox: The next decade is on the ballot in 2018

It sounds absurd, but Democratic voters might actually be underestimating the significance of the midterm elections.

By now, it’s well understood that the outcome will be enormously consequential for the future of Donald Trump’s presidency. But these coming elections are not just a battle to control Congress next year — they’re a battle to control it for the next decade.

Whoever emerges victorious in key November races will have a huge amount of power over the next congressional redistricting — a crucial event in national politics that comes up only once every ten years. Last time around, Republicans dominated the process and walked away with such slanted district maps that they’ve held the House of Representatives easily ever since.

“The next decade is essentially on the ballot in the fall of 2018,” David Daley, an author who wrote a book about the last redistricting, told me. “And if Democrats don’t win key elections this fall that allow them to have seats at the table in 2021, the party could face another decade in the wilderness.”

Read More: Vox, September 4, 2018