Some Lawmakers Want a Gerrymandering Truce

Representatives Brian Fitzpatrick and Tom Suozzi, from opposing parties, are engaged in a nationwide fight over gerrymandering while urging a truce. They argue that redistricting has become a race to the bottom that harms the nation and deepens polarization. National party leadership is not seeking peace. President Trump has directed Republicans to seize opportunities to draw House seats in their favor to build a buffer for upcoming midterm elections. A Supreme Court decision weakening the Voting Rights Act has enabled more aggressive redistricting, especially in the Deep South. Democrats plan to escalate in blue states after setbacks in court, and the gerrymandering frenzy is expected to continue for at least two more years, worsening partisanship and Congress’s standing.

"“There's got to be people that come to the table and agree that it's in the best interest of our nation to not do this, that it's a race to the bottom,” Fitzpatrick told me."

"President Trump has directed Republicans to seize every opportunity to draw House seats in their favor, in hope that the GOP can create a buffer big enough to overcome the president's sagging poll numbers in the midterm elections this fall. The Supreme Court's decision to weaken the Voting Rights Act last month freed Republicans to redistrict even more aggressively across the Deep South, building on the party's gains in Texas and a handful of other states last fall."

"Democrats, who hit back in California but lost a court fight in Virginia, have vowed their own escalation in blue states next year. “We're going to win in November,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries vowed to reporters last week, before adopting a bit of fantasy-flick hyperbole: “And then we're going to crush their souls as it relates to the extremism that they are trying to unleash on the American people.”"

"The gerrymandering frenzy will likely extend for at least two more years, which in turn will only exacerbate the polarization and partisanship that has gripped Congress and steadily diminished its standing. “We've just made this so bad for our country,” Suozzi told me. “We have got to address this problem, or we're going to fall further into this spiral, this death spiral.”"

Read at The Atlantic