Un-gerrymandering starts in 2018
by Tom Sullivan
Chart via NCSL.
You can’t win if you don’t show up to play. It’s a message both for party muckety-mucks and armchair activists whose focus is always on D.C. A pair of stories in Politico address that this morning.
In California’s Central Valley, Democrat Andrew Janz is running to unseat Trump-toadie Rep. Devin Nunes. Janz raised over $1 million online in July, exceeding the totals of Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) that month. But that won’t get the moderate Democrat much attention from a Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that usually warms up to moderates. Janz is pretty much on his own.
That’s not so surprising. Funds and manpower are limited. The DCCC has to triage. Even still, rural areas get no respect.
Meanwhile, a handful of Democratic senators are getting behind Sister District in promoting down-ballot races and flipping state legislatures:
“Getting involved in a state race is one of the best ways you can spend your time between now and Nov. 6,” says Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in one of the videos.
Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), who this past weekend was in New Hampshire as part of his ongoing exploration of a presidential run, is also part of the effort, as are Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.), who are sometimes mentioned as possible 2020 contenders.
“There are going to be hundreds, if not thousands of state legislative races all across this country that are going to be decided by 100 votes, 200 votes,” Murphy says.
This is the first time that U.S. senators have so directly jumped into the fight for statehouses.
Somebody’s gotten religion and pushing back against ALEC and REDMAP. Republicans control about two-thirds of the legislative chambers in the country that will draw new federal and state districts in 2021.
The Sister District Project’s focus this year is flipping legislatures in Arizona, Colorado and New Hampshire, plus holding the majority in Washington. Where that’s not possible this year, gains this year in other state can make majorities achievable in 2020. Part of the strategy is for Democrat-heavy areas to lend manpower and expertise to redder districts. Nice to see they’ve recruited some stars to promote the effort.
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For The Win 2018 is ready for download. Request a copy of my county-level election mechanics primer at tom.bluecentury at gmail.