Florida tries to gerrymander harder, may end up helping Democrats
Florida Republicans, never ones to leave a map untouched, are considering another round of redistricting in response to Democratic gains elsewhere. The catch: push the lines too far, and a strategy meant to lock in seats could instead make more of them competitive, turning a power play into a potential self-own.
“This is why there’s a major risk of Florida redrawing its already deeply gerrymandered map—it could easily backfire this fall if they draw a bunch of Trump +8 to Trump +12 seats, especially in Latino areas,” Democratic pollster Adam Carlson wrote in a post on X. “But Trump will probably try to pressure Meatball Ron to do it anyway.”
Under its current deeply gerrymandered map, Republicans hold four seats Trump carried by 12 points or less, according to data from the Downballot. A redrawn map could make those seats even more competitive, something House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries warned DeSantis and Florida Republicans about on Wednesday.
“Our message to Florida Republicans is, ‘F around and find out,’” Jeffries said.
Gerrymandering is when people in power pick their voters, instead of voters picking who gets to be in power. Republicans may be getting so comfortable with this method of electioneering that it is starting to backfire. Democrats are openly allowing the general public to vote on district maps, as in California and Virginia, to their benefit. It seems Republicans have stretched the lines so thin they may break.
If you can't attract more voters, you have to spread the ones you think you have more thinly. "Help own the libs and we'll arrest your cousin" may not be the message they think it is.
I love this factoid about Gerrymandering:
This word was created in reaction to a redrawing of Massachusetts Senate election districts under Governor Elbridge Gerry, later Vice President of the United States. Gerry, who personally disapproved of the practice, signed a bill that redistricted Massachusetts for the benefit of the Democratic-Republican Party. When mapped, one of the contorted districts in the Boston area was said to resemble a mythological salamander.
I'm from Boston. I disapprove of this practice too.