“Gerrymandering is detrimental to our democracy,” declared Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger . . . back in 2019.
“Let voters decide, not politicians,” former President Barack Obama offered just last month.
The problem? They’re correct!
And Republicans are now sharing the statements by these two high-ranking Democrats with Virginia voters. Why? They oppose the April 21 constitutional referendum that, if passed, would allow the legislature to gerrymander the state’s congressional district lines to likely turn the federal delegation from its current six- to five-seat Democratic majority into a ten to one Democratic majority.
How dare opponents repeat the precise words previously uttered by Spanberger and Obama as Virginians go to the polls!
WUSA-TV in Washington, D.C., headlined its report: “Anti-redistricting mailers in Virginia are misleading, critics warn.”
“This has been misconstrued,” explained Gaylene Kanoyton, the Political Action Chair for the Virginia NAACP. “This does not pertain to these unusual, unprecedented times that we are in right now.”
“It is true they made these statements years ago,” a fellow from my hometown was quoted, “but the situation has changed.”
“They don’t like it because we’re exposing their leaders for their hypocrisy,” argues former Republican Delegate A.C. Cordoza with Justice for Democracy PAC.
Democrats can of course blame Republican gerrymandering efforts in other states to justify their own, but it is a race to the bottom for voters.
But, as I pointed out last week, Democrats deserve all the blame. The language on the ballot is completely slanted, telling voters the measure will “restore fairness.” This is so outrageous that even the liberal Washington Post editorialized last month that “Democratic politicians are presenting the proposed amendment to voters in the most brazenly dishonest way imaginable.”
Partisans will always be self-serving. But can’t they even try not to appear blatantly hypocritical?
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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2 replies on “Gerrymandered Hypocrisy ”
I’d like to see the states adopt one of two systems (other than abolishing themselves, my preferred but unlikely solution) to be done with gerrymandering:
1) Algorithmic districting every 10 years after the census — a computer program selects a random point within the state and draws the most compact/contiguous districts possible from that starting point without regard to anything except population numbers; or
2) Electing all US Representatives at-large in a single state-wide election. If there are X districts, the top X vote-getters win.
Option 1 sounds good, but you would have to get past the Voting Rights Act, which mandates majority minority districts. Option 2 (for me, anyway) is a no go. The larger cities could overwhelm the rural and suburban communities, as they do in statewide senatorial elections. In a state with 40 districts, does everyone get to vote for 40 candidates? That could leave those living in more remote communities, or who have different or unique issues with little to no meaningful representation.