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* Politico’s Edward-Isaac Dovere…
As Democrats aim to capitalize on this year’s Republican turmoil and start building back their own decimated bench, former Attorney General Eric Holder will chair a new umbrella group focused on redistricting reform — with the aim of taking on the gerrymandering that’s left the party behind in statehouses and made winning a House majority far more difficult.
The new group, called the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, was developed in close consultation with the White House. President Barack Obama himself has now identified the group — which will coordinate campaign strategy, direct fundraising, organize ballot initiatives and put together legal challenges to state redistricting maps — as the main focus of his political activity once he leaves office.
Though initial plans to be active in this year’s elections fell short, the group has been incorporated as a 527, with Democratic Governors Association executive director Elisabeth Pearson as its president and House Majority PAC executive director Ali Lapp as its vice president. They’ve been pitching donors and aiming to put together its first phase action plan for December, moving first in the Virginia and New Jersey state elections next year and with an eye toward coordination across gubernatorial, state legislative and House races going into the 2018 midterms.
“American voters deserve fair maps that represent our diverse communities — and we need a coordinated strategy to make that happen,” Holder said. “This unprecedented new effort will ensure Democrats have a seat at the table to create fairer maps after 2020.”
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 4:26 pm
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It might be good for Eric Holder to spearhead this effort since Bob Creamer (husband of Representative Schakowsky) has been implicated in staging protests intended to disrupt Republican events and Trump rallies.
The story is going viral. Breitbart and Project Veritas are all over it.
Comment by Stacked Deck Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 4:33 pm
There are a couple of ways to look at this:
1) you win enough leg seats that you can bargain for better maps in the political process
2) you go push referendums and constitutional amendments
If #1 falls short, you go all in on step 2.
After 1 and 2 are attempted, then you go to step 3: reform yourself
Comment by Precinct Captain Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 4:36 pm
===has been implicated in staging protests intended to disrupt Republican events and Trump rallies===
I watched that video. They claim he wants to incite violence. Didn’t see anything in that to support the claim. And Creamer was behind the Chicago demonstration? Yeah. OK. He probably played a role, but c’mon.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 4:40 pm
Stacked Deck -
Nonsequitor much?
Comment by Ggeo Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 4:40 pm
“Breitbart and Project Veritas are all over it.”
But not Alex Jones and David Icke?
No wonder the reptiloids have taken over so easily.
– MrJM
Comment by @MisterJayEm Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 4:50 pm
If they want to be taken seriously as a reform group, Illinois needs to be on their target list along with Republican states that have done the same thing, otherwise they are just a bunch of partisan hacks in the name of reform.
Comment by Ahoy! Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 4:57 pm
In Illinois, you just really can’t read this post and not be struck by the incredible irony. For better (often) and for worse (more often), this state is a bit of an island.
Comment by A guy Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 5:08 pm
Hate to ruin the line here, but some always forgets IL remap must comply with the federal votin’ rights act.
The scheme put forth by the 1%ers who co-opted the Cindi Canary group did not seem too interested in that part of their “reform”
Surprise.
Comment by Annonin' Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 5:31 pm
Yeah.
We need more politics from the same people who repeatedly demonstrate an inability to succeed in politics.
Comment by VanillaMan Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 5:34 pm
All 50 states should be on the target list, especially since it appears Sam Wang has developed rather straightforward techniques to evaluate the degree of partisan gerrymandering.
https://www.stanfordlawreview.org/print/article/three-tests-for-practical-evaluation-of-partisan-gerrymandering/
Comment by Hamlet's Ghost Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 5:36 pm
But I thought redrawing district boundaries was a waste of time that wouldn’t produce any real change. Interesting.
Comment by JB13 Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 5:51 pm
Annonin’ - The article says the group is going to target Virginia and New Jersey. Both those states have significant minority populations and are subject to the Voting Rights Act, too. No reason Illinois couldn’t be on their list.
Comment by muon Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 6:01 pm
Well, If altright sites are “all over it”, we know it’s BS.
First, I AGREE, that it’d be great to have fair redistricting, but it’s pretty suspect than when Republicans contolled the state house, no one had a problem with it, but they’ve been whining badly since Dems took over.
Second, it needs to be nationwide, not just here. Otherwise, again, it’s not very fair. My idea? Give it to a girl nerd(cuz boy nerds still work for ego strokes) to fashion a computer program that will fairly evolve districts, including districts with majority minorities across the nation.
Will this happen, OH H*** NO, but I can dream.
Would I vote for something that Ruiner put together? HAHAHAHAHAHA. His plan does not include executive officers and favors lobbyists taking over.
Comment by Union Thug Gramma Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 6:24 pm
If Illinois is NOT on the list or plan then this is nothing more than Obama exporting the “system” we have here. That would be tragic. And fail.
Comment by Big Muddy Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 6:39 pm
“Just a bunch of partisan hacks in the name of reform.”
Ahoy! -
Who exactly do you think is funding the charge in Illinois?
Holder, Obama, and the Democrats are leading the charge to reduce barriers to minority representation.
For all of the complain in’ and whinin’ from Tribbies, Republicans across the country have been engaging in an overt effort to diminish equal protections for minority voters by
1) erecting voter ID laws and other procedural changes that disenfranchise minority voters, and
2) diminish the influence of racial voting blocks by packing as many minority voters into as few districts as possible.
The so-called redistricting reforms in Illinois are aimed at #2.
See North Carolina congressional map for further details.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 6:54 pm
“If Illinois is NOT on the list or plan then this is nothing more than Obama exporting the “system” we have here. That would be tragic. And fail.”
Might as well have Madigan be an advisor for the group.
But some wishful thinking, maybe Obama will make good on his call to end partisan redistricting.
Comment by Clark Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 6:58 pm
In 2008 and 2010, national Republicans raised money for legislative races in states where they thought they could influence remaps. With the wave in 2010, that move paid out handsomely. I’d guess national Democrats don’t want to get left out in 2020. As for local implications, the Clinton emails made clear the Illinois Dems don’t dance to the national party’s tune, even if offered more delegates.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 7:27 pm
As often observed previously on this site, if it doesn’t happen nationally (which probably would require a constitutional amendment) Democrats are dumb to do it unilaterally given the advantage the Republicans have already obtained, state by state.
Comment by JackD Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 8:27 pm
Illinois would remain blue even after a “fair map” style reform. Don’t know why the Machine is fighting so hard. Minority representation complaints are bogus. What’s left of the Voting Rights Act will protect minority voting power. Everyone take off the tinfoil hats.
Comment by Ray del Camino Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 8:40 pm
So it is OK when Republicans totally gerrymander Texas and other states, but when Dems begin to fight back using similar tactics, then they are hypocrites? Please! If you don’t play the game effectively, you lose. Fair maps most likely need to come from a national effort, since no one can disarm unilaterally.
Comment by Jibba Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 8:47 pm
Given the stonewalled opposition that Congress has given Pres Obama for 8 years, I wouldn’t be surprised if he spent the rest of his life on Congressional reform. Would you? Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind…
Comment by Jibba Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 8:57 pm
Slightly unfair, if we are discussing this in a larger context. One cannot ignore that Illinois offers a counter-balance to the LARGE number of states that are Republican-controlled and abusing the power they have. One does not simply unilateraly disarm while the other side still has plenty of weapons, too. I have no problem saying that Illinois needs to work on its own re-districting, that the use of political voting pattern should be dismissed as a legal way of parsing a map, and all that. But I would rather see it done like the National Voting Compact — when enough states do it, so do we. Otherwise, every “progressive” state is going to be balanced, while states with sizeable Democratic minorities are going to be entirely disenfranchised.
Comment by xxtofer Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 9:13 pm
It’s smart for the Dems to finally decide to get engaged in this process rather than let the GOP and their allies draw the Districts the way they see fit.
Comment by The Dude Abides Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 9:38 pm
@Jibba:
“Given the stonewalled opposition that Congress has given Pres Obama for 8 years…”
The Democrats had control over the entire Congress for the first two terms of Obama’s presidency, so the stonewalling could not have occurred for both of his presidential terms.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 10:50 pm
Here’s an idea for the GOP: pursue an agenda that more than a third of the voters can support! You only win (and then just barely) in elections in which 30% of the voters show up. I’d like to end gerrymandering and have fair districting too but the results would still be about 60% Democratic because your agenda is so unpopular.
Comment by Chucktownian Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 10:58 pm
If they want to be taken seriously as a reform group, Illinois needs to be on their target list along with Republican states that have done the same thing, otherwise they are just a bunch of partisan hacks in the name of reform.
————————-
Agreed. And then they shouldn’t qualify as a non-profit either.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 11:20 pm
Illinois would remain blue even after a “fair map” style reform. Don’t know why the Machine is fighting so hard. Minority representation complaints are bogus. What’s left of the Voting Rights Act will protect minority voting power. Everyone take off the tinfoil hats.
____________
Illinois would be lighter shade of blue though. one of the houses would probably be winnable if the GOP ran the table in a red year.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 11:24 pm
–In Illinois, you just really can’t read this post and not be struck by the incredible irony. For better (often) and for worse (more often), this state is a bit of an island.–
Here in Illinois, I really can’t help but be struck (no irony; that’s a word that has no meaning here), for better or worse, by the incredible incoherence of how something can be better (often) and “for worse” (more often) on the island.
Dude, your word-salad-shooter is whack.
Reading what you wrote, you must know you said nothing at all.
Comment by wordslinger Monday, Oct 17, 16 @ 11:42 pm