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Here’s a comprehensive report on NM’s redistricting from Ballotopedia, following changes from the 2020 census. The New Mexico Citizen Redistricting Committee created a range of redistricting options, and on Oct 15 2021, recommended three of them to the state legislature. A bill was drafted to adopt one of the recommended options which was introduced on Dec 7, and signed into law Dec 29.
You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the old model obsolete. R. Buckminster Fuller
You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the old model obsolete. R. Buckminster Fuller
Pardon me for being dense...it seems like there was an effort here in Floriduh to un-gerrymander districts a while back. Far enough back that Democrats still held some political sway here and Republicans hadn't gone off the deep end.
I wonder if some of the other "gerrymandering" efforts by Democrats are actually attempting to make voting fairer...? Egalitarianism is what attracts me to the blue team and I'd like to imagine they are correcting the political wrongs of their (Republican) forbears rather than twisting districts solely for their own gain...
Pero, you're our numbers guy, have you looked at any of the actual maps? Are there any real shenanigans going on or just common sense adjustments to current districts as per the most recent census?
Shenanigans, sure were. I’d say limited to around 8 or so of the 40 states which have completed their redistricting. Illinois, New Jersey, New York were egregious partisan gerrymandering on one side along with Oregon which wasn’t as bad of the three listed above. North Carolina and Ohio were extreme for a partisan or party advantage gerrymandering on the other side. But Ohio and North Carolina’s supreme court threw their maps out. They’ll have to redraw their maps. Both Ohio and North Carolina had a constitutional amendment approved against partisan gerrymandering. New Jersey, Illinois, New York don’t. New Jersey’s lawsuit was dismissed by that state’s supreme court due to not being illegal to gerrymander. New York’s legislature overruled their independent redistricting commission 3 times in order to draw their own map.
Some of these lawsuits made no sense to me, that is when looking at who gained or lost or if neither side gained at all. Neither party gained in Georgia, Idaho, Maryland, Nevada which still have lawsuits pending. Why the lawsuits in those states, I really don’t know. DOJ brought the lawsuit in Texas. What Texas did was shore up incumbents of both parties. The new Texas map went from 9 safe Democratic districts to 13, from 18 Republican districts to 24. Texas added two new seats, from 36 to 38.
Some of the maps proposed in your native Florida are also extreme. Some aren’t. It’s my understanding Florida’s legislature is still playing with 18 different maps. Some numbers of some of the states. Illinois Democrats gained 3 seats; Republicans lost 2, competitive seats lost 2* New Jersey Democrats gained 3 seats; Republicans lost 1, competitive seats lost 2 New York Democrats gained 3 seats; Republicans lost 3, competitive seats lost 1* Oregon Democrats gained 2 seats; Republicans lost 0, competitive seats lost 2 Texas Democrats gained 4 seats; Republicans gained 6 seats competitive seats lost 8
*loss of 1 competitive seat due to losing a representative as a result of the 2020 census
Now Ohio and North Carolina would have been included in this list for extreme gerrymandering except their supreme courts ruled their extreme partisan gerrymandering maps unconstitutional and both must redraw their maps. Keep in mind, when I say gained it may mean either taking a seat held by the other party and making it safe for your party or taking a competitive seat and making that competitive seat a safe seat for your party. The reason both parties gained seats in Texas was the loss of 8 competitive districts turned into safe districts for one or the other party along with the addition of 2 new seats.
There are other states which may have gerrymandered, but the gain or loss was a single seat which I didn’t include in my list. These states, 1 seat lost or gained might have been done by gerrymandering or as a result of common-sense adjustments due to people moving, dying, new folks being added to the rolls.
Last edited by perotista; 02/14/2201:54 PM.
It's high past time that we start electing Americans to congress and the presidency who put America first instead of their political party. For way too long we have been electing Republicans and Democrats who happen to be Americans instead of Americans who happen to be Republicans and Democrats.
I wonder if some of the other "gerrymandering" efforts by Democrats are actually attempting to make voting fairer...? Are there any real shenanigans going on or just common sense adjustments to current districts as per the most recent census?
I went back at looked at some of Pero's posts and saw that the reason for including NM in the "gerrymandered" category is because that's what the Republicans are claiming in their lawsuit.
So I went to see what was actually in the lawsuit.
Quote
“The Democrats’ cynical attempt to consolidate their power by abusing the redistricting process in New Mexico is illegal and wrong,†state GOP Chairman Steve Pearce, a former congressman, said in a statement Friday.
Steve Pearce was once the Congressman for my district and he is a real sleazy piece of work - an early Trump mini-me. He had a lock on the district for many terms and only his (failed) ambition to be more powerful (senator or governor) pried him out of the seat.
Quote
Herrell, who is seeking reelection this year, has also described the map as an example of gerrymandering and said it shows Democrats’ desperation to “try to save Nancy Pelosi’s majority,†a reference to the current U.S. House speaker.
However, Democratic backers of the redrawn map have described it as a legally sound approach to setting congressional district boundaries that ensures each of the state’s three districts includes both rural and urban areas.
Quote
It asks a judge to strike down the new boundaries and replace them with a map proposed by the Citizen Redistricting Committee, a group created last year to come up with recommendations for lawmakers.
“Now, New Mexico’s congressional map is a hopelessly partisan map that casts aside traditional redistricting principles to ensure a Democratic sweep through the dilution of votes,†the 28-page lawsuit says.
What they sneakily avoid saying is that the chosen map was drawn by the non-partisan committee and was one of three recommended to the legislature - and the that the map the Republicans want was not one of the three recommended.
Looks like a case of attempted back-seat gerrymandering to me - not a likely candidate for the "both sides do it" club. Reminds me of Trump's lie-filled attempt to overturn the presidential election.
You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the old model obsolete. R. Buckminster Fuller
...Steve Pearce was once the Congressman for my district and he is a real sleazy piece of work...
<snip>
...What they sneakily avoid saying is that the chosen map was drawn by the non-partisan committee and was one of three recommended to the legislature - and the that the map the Republicans want was not one of the three recommended.
I located the actual lawsuit to see what it says. There are multiple plaintiffs, mostly in the state senate, who say their districts were "cracked" intentionally by Special Session Senate Bill #1 to reduce their ability to win. Herrell is also in there making the same "cracking" claims, but the state senate districts are different from the congressional districts. Apparently, the SSSB1 bill map was modified to some degree from the map recommended by the Citizens Redistricting Committee - different maps, different legislation. I guess they are hoping to confuse the judge by conflating the two?
You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the old model obsolete. R. Buckminster Fuller
With all the talk concentrating on gerrymandering, this article may hold a solution and make everyone’s vote count even if one lives in a district that is 90% one party. What do you all think? This is something I’ve been thinking about for a very long time, but this article put’s it into words and perspectives I could never do.
To End Gerrymandering, Change How We Elect Congress
It's high past time that we start electing Americans to congress and the presidency who put America first instead of their political party. For way too long we have been electing Republicans and Democrats who happen to be Americans instead of Americans who happen to be Republicans and Democrats.
LOL, yeah, I know Greger. But I always held out hope. It wasn’t so bad until we entered today’s modern political era of polarization, the great divide and the super, mega, ultra-high partisanship. It’s surprising it took us so long to enter this modern era. With our two-party system, it was but a matter of time. I don’t know of any other modern democracy that has only two viable parties. Our choices are limited, which eventually leads to an us vs. them. I suppose using one of my time-honored phrases, it is what it is.
It's high past time that we start electing Americans to congress and the presidency who put America first instead of their political party. For way too long we have been electing Republicans and Democrats who happen to be Americans instead of Americans who happen to be Republicans and Democrats.
