House Democrats prep for years of redistricting hardball after court losses

[RandySF]

House Democrats say they tried playing nice. Now the gloves are off.

After spending more than a decade pushing for anti-gerrymandering measures and other good-government initiatives, Democratic lawmakers said this week they are gearing up to play political hardball in the wake of stunning court losses on redistricting — potentially for years to come.

We will beat the far-right extremists,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Wednesday. “We’re going to win in November, 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.”

It’s a marked reversal from years of high-minded Democratic rhetoric that included advocating for independent redistricting commissions, campaign finance curbs and more — even as Republicans used the courts and their control of state governments to consolidate and enhance their own party’s power.



https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/14/house-democrats-redistricting-hardball-00920090

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Democracy should be our religion, then we could take it to the Court. /nt

[Buns_of_Fire]

2. Enough is enough. Squash 'em squishy. nt

[mwmisses4289]

3. It's about bloody damn time!

The gloves should have come off long ago!

[NCDem47]

4. It is time to TURN THE SCREWS Dem states! Give Republicans NO room.

States that currently have:

a Democratic governor,
Democratic control of the legislature (“Democratic trifecta”), and
a generally left-leaning/liberal state supreme court

include:

California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Hawaii
Illinois
Maryland
Massachusetts
Minnesota
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
Oregon
Rhode Island
Washington

[BillJoeBobBeauregard]

5. We want action

Not meaningless hyperbole.

[ProfessorGAC]

6. Time To Quit Bringing A Knife To A Gunfight

In fact, it was time in 2008.

[RT Atlanta]

7. I appreciate the sentiment, but what took them so long?

Seriously. The 'pukes have shown all of us who they are by their actions and words for years.

All I can say is 'bout time (and hopefully not too late?).

[Celerity]

8. After '26 we only have 2 more cycles ('28 & '30) until the post 2030 census reapportionment smashes us in '32, both in

the House and then (and potentially even more negatively impactful and automatic, requiring no state legislative action) the Electoral College map for POTUS.

Post 2030 Census we could likely see a net swing of 22 to 30 or so US House seats (and thus also Electoral College votes) to Red States. I would guess, 4.5 years or so in advance, that it ends up around a net 24 to 26 seat loss from Blue to Red states.

Those lost Blue State House seats and lost Blue State POTUS EVs are going to be a massive spanner in the works for the US and the world going forward after the 2030 midterms in 4 years.

It is very likely going to be so much harder for us Democrats to win the US House and the POTUS after the 2030 midterms. It also puts the US Senate in an even more crucial 'final barrier' positition.

In 2026 midterms we have a shot at taking back the Senate. IF we retain all our current seats we are at 47.

The following states can all be potentially flipped from from Rethug to Dem. (FL, KS, KY, and TN are not going to flip, there are no realistic signs (nor great Dem candidates) that I have seen in any of those 4 ruby Red states for a massive upset, and my list below for possible flips is already aggressive as hell):

AK
IA
ME
NE (independent Dan Osborn, who may not caucus with either party)
NC
OH
TX

Sweeping those gets us to 53 seats plus Osborn in Nebraska, IF we sweep all our current Blue-held seats.

Cooper in NC is the only one I would say is very likely to flip Blue. Next most likely are ME and OH and neither of those are locks.

That gets us to 50. IF Osborn wins and refuses to caucus with either Party, we would have control 50 to 49.

We need to win one out of AK, IA, and TX to get to 51 and remove any doubt about Osborn's intentions.

We are in some danger of getting flipped from Blue to Red in the following 3 states:

GA (thank fuck Govenor Brian Kemp did not run)

MI (this is going to be tough no matter which one of the 3 Dems wins our primary, as Rethug Mike Rogers is beating all 3 in the most current polls)

NH (this is the least likely flip IMHO, as we dodged a huge bullet when the extremely popular Rethug Governor Chris Sununu declined to run for the seat, his brother John is running but is a weaker candidate. Chris Sununu was up by almost double digits against any Dem before he declined, John Sununu trails any Dem, and Pappas will now be our Dem nominee).

[0rganism]

9. "crush their souls"? really? is this the best turn-of-phrase for the situation, or even top-10?

And that's the active part of this sentence: “We’re going to win in November, 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.”

Far from sounding tough and resolute, this assertion comes across as weak and pathetic. Whenever you couple some grandiose movie villain shit like "we’re going to crush their souls" with a vague squiggly explanatory clause like "...as it relates to blah blah blah...", well, among other things, you're diluting the initial impact of your power statement.

Fine if we want to "bring it", but maybe hire some editors to go over the public stuff?