There has always been a practical reason why states did not adopt redistricting in the middle of the decade. Besides the basic fact that this is undemocratic, there is also the possibility that it won’t work, or that it backfires on the party trying to force its way to a midterm majority in the House.
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Trump’s poll numbers have the look and stink of a term-limited president who is about to become a lame duck as the opposition party appears poised to return to power.
Republicans could have come up with some good policy ideas or perhaps addressed the issues voters care about most, instead of cutting taxes for billionaires and redecorating the White House, but that would have taken work and effort to understand what the American people want.
Trump’s idea was to try to cheat his way to victory by forcing Republican-led states to restructure their congressional maps.
The president immediately brought Texas into line, creating up to 5 new Republican House seats. North Carolina gained an additional Republican seat.
Then the wheels started to fall off for the Republicans. Ohio Republicans were spooked by an aggressive gerrymander from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. A Utah judge threw out that state’s MAGA-drawn map and created an additional Democratic-leaning district. California passed Proposition 50 to counter Texas’ gerrymander with five new Democratic House districts.
Trump was counting on other red states to support him, but he received very bad news about the one he had been watching for months.
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