Democrats desperately look for a redistricting edge in California, New York and Maryland
Source: Politico
07/26/2025 04:00 PM EDT
Updated: 07/26/2025 09:44 PM EDT
Democratic leaders are feeling pressure to join a brewing redistricting battle that is threatening to upend the midterms landscape — an effort that is likely to slam into legal and political reality.
As Texas Republicans pressed forward with a redistricting blitz designed to increase the number of red seats in the state, officials in the biggest Democratic states scrambled for a response. In New York, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries spoke with Gov. Kathy Hochul in recent days to discuss what a counter-effort could look like. California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration talked to state election officials about the logistics and timing of a special election to overturn its nonpartisan commission. And Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker joined Newsom in meeting with Texas Democratic lawmakers on Friday about a strategy for stalling the GOP’s brazen attempt to carve out five new seats, per President Donald Trump’s demand.
The problem is Democrats don’t have many options. In conversations with more than a dozen state lawmakers and redistricting experts, Democrats’ best shot at redrawing a map lies in California, a heavily blue state with a huge number of congressional districts. They see the second-best option in New York, which saw Democratic gerrymandering efforts sputter in recent years, and Illinois, which is already a heavily pro-Democrat gerrymander. Far less likely options lie with Maryland and New Jersey, which have just four Republican-held seats between them.
Discussion of these options come as a debate rages within the party over whether to play hard ball to the same degree as Republicans. “At this moment, it seems very clear that self defense is something we have to put as a priority,” said Maryland House Majority Leader David Moon, who introduced a bill this week that would force open Maryland’s redistricting process if another state pursues redistricting ahead of the U.S. Census. “If that’s where we are, and that’s where we’re forced to go, then I think that’s where Democratic states need to be prepared to go.”
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/26/dem-redistricting-00478136
Adding MD to the mix is new. This quote needs to be highlighted -
Desperate times call for desperate measures. We keep thinking that it's not happening and keep trying to uphold "rules" that the SCOTUS has very boldly and strongly, allowed to be broken by the GOP. This is going on before our eyes, so it's time for a tourniquet before we all bleed out.
= new reply since forum marked as read
the GOP (and their supporters) "project".
The GOP have already so-gerrymandered their states that they really have no more wiggle room and their dear leader has pushed them into "desperation". 
It's calculating, cold - and I freaking love it!
