Democrats and Republicans Are Both Wrong On Partisan Gerrymandering

America’s political leadership is actively failing the people.

Right now, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the Republicans in the Texas state legislature are trying to pass a redrawn congressional map that removes five Democratic seats from Congress, per a direct request from President Donald Trump. This has prompted Democratic legislators in Texas to leave the state in an attempt to delay the vote on these new maps.

This is an instance of elected officials choosing their voters, not voters choosing their elected officials.

Usually, maps are drawn every 10 years, after the U.S. Census is conducted. The census informs legislatures and redistricting committees on how many congressional districts each state has and where communities of interest are.

The census is done at the beginning of each decade. Our last census was in 2020, and our next one will be in 2030. 

So why is Texas redistricting in 2025, when this is usually done every 10 years, directly after the U.S. Census results? Because President Trump and the Republican Party want more seats in Congress.

This undemocratic move by the GOP has prompted a robust discussion amongst Democrats about how to best counteract the harms of Republican redistricting. The consensus seems to be leaning towards blue states redistricting to gerrymander more blue seats in Congress. Governor Gavin Newsom has expressed interest in this solution and is getting support from former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke and others. 

The idea is that over the years, Democrats have not fought like Republicans do, and gerrymandering blue states is how Democrats can fight back. Superficially, this “I see your gerrymander and will raise you a gerrymander” may seem like the proper raw political response.

I have deep reservations about this strategy for a number of reasons.

The Acceleration of the Erosion of Democracy 

So many Americans, especially Black Americans, fought, bled, and died for what we often say is “the right to vote.” But that’s too simplistic. People fought, bled, and died for the right to have their voices heard and honored at the ballot box. Federal laws are passed by the United States Congress. If both parties are choosing their voters for federal seats, the voters lose their voices at the federal level.

Simply put, if both red states and blue states are stealing congressional seats by partisan gerrymandering, we all lose. 

Further Disenfranchising Black Voters

In the Black community, we have a common saying: when America catches a cold, Black folks get pneumonia.

It is almost always worse for us.

Most Black Americans, due to the atrocity of chattel slavery, live in the southern states. After emancipation, Black Americans had to fight literally, and many died for voting rights. Many Americans view voting rights as black and white (no pun intended), that you either have them or you do not. That is not the full reality. 

The reality is that voting rights are a spectrum. If elected officials are choosing their voters, then what weight does our vote actually carry? Yes, there are ballot initiatives and municipal elections where our voices count, and it is necessary for us to continue to show up, but even things like ballot initiative rules can be changed.

Submitting our vote at the ballot box does not automatically mean that our voices are being counted in a democratic fashion. If a member of Congress, Democrat or Republican, knows that their district will never flip, what incentive do they have to listen to communities that do not support them? Other than being a good representative on principle, there is none.

What could this mean for Black Americans, specifically? 

Republicans hold complete control of 23 state governments. Roughly 44% to 45% of the Black population lives in these states. Meanwhile, Democrats hold complete control of 15 state governments. Approximately 30% of the Black population lives in those 15 states. That means if both parties decide to go back and forth, state by state, in a partisan redistricting battle, Black people will be divided up greatly, diluting our collective political power.

Worst Case Scenario: Civil War

With a background as a Black history professor, the tensions between states, in this case, Texas and California, are a severe cause for concern.

Americans have always been deeply ideologically divided, but this division is starting to bubble up between state governments. We have had a civil war in this country, and we should look back on what led to it. When we do, we can see some parallels.

In 1820, there were 22 states; 11 were “free” states, while 11 were slave-holding states. Missouri wanted to become a state, and it wanted to permit the practice of slavery.

The 11 so-called “free” states did not want this, as it would tip power in the U.S. Senate to the states that allowed slavery.

So, there was a compromise. Missouri would be added, as would Maine—creating a 24-state country, 12 “free” states, 12 states that permitted slavery.

It was also determined that new states north of latitude 36°30′ in the Louisiana Purchase territory would have to be “free” states.

Instead of addressing the atrocity in the room—Black people being held against their will and tortured in the name of profits—the federal government chose not to rock the boat, to remain comfortable in their own lives.

This so-called “compromise” only delayed the inevitable. Eventually, there was a civil war that was fought over chattel slavery a few decades later. 

I view the idea of Democrats gerrymandering blue states along party lines in response to Republicans doing so in red states, similarly to the Missouri Compromise. 

It’s a “you do this, we will do it back” solution that doesn’t address the actual issue.

So, what is the actual issue, and what is the solution? 

Making It Right

I was a delegate twice over for President Obama. While I have many criticisms of his presidency, he said something in his famous 2004 DNC speech that is extremely relevant in this moment: 

“There’s not a liberal America and a conservative America — there’s the United States of America. There’s not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America — there’s the United States of America.” 

Is there a liberal America? A conservative America? A Black America? A white America? Obviously, yes, there is. But when it is all said and done, what we get is what we get, collectively.

If both political parties decide to disenfranchise voters and push their party’s policies on Americans without having to win our votes, that is a loss for everyone except those rich enough to buy the opinions of politicians.

The issue at hand is not simply partisan gerrymandering; it’s even bigger than that. It’s a lack of true representation.

Nearly all of the elected officials in our country are bought and paid for by special interest groups and a handful of ultra-wealthy donors. And the issue is bipartisan. This has led to legislation that is broadly popular not being passed. For instance, look at the Epstein list. A majority of Americans want answers, yet neither party has been able to deliver. Same thing with things like healthcare and housing reforms. It is due to special interest groups and corporations that profit off our suffering, taking a portion of those profits and investing in politicians to pass laws that keep the profits flowing.

The lack of our government delivering solutions for the people is sowing division among us all. 

If Democrats want to actually “fight back,” they should be teaming up with anyone they can to ban corporate and dark money from our political process. There are Republicans who would join in this fight, too. The answer to the erosion of democracy cannot be less democracy, it must be more democracy.

Right now, our political process is not being driven by conservative voters or progressive voters; it is being driven by corporations and a handful of billionaires who want to control the power of our government, and quite frankly, they do not care if the politician they have to buy is a Democrat or Republican.

We the people desperately need our elected officials to betray their corporate donors and honor us, the people they serve. 

Because right now, they are betraying us and honoring the wishes of their owner donors.