See my District 1 page for how all this affects our district and this race.
See my Proposition 50 page for why that fight isn’t over.
And if you can’t get enough, venture down the long, twisty, and muddy Rabbit Hole…
Gerrymandering has been aptly described as “politicians choosing their voters rather than voters choosing their representatives”.
Today, out of 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, around 80% (350) are considered “safe” for one party or the other. Fewer than 5% are considered toss-up. This is no accident. While our Constitution has no mention of parties at all (including all the amendments), our legislative system has evolved into the explicitly Two Party system we see today. Gerrymandering is a fundamental tool of that system, and it’s all gone way too far.
Still, the overt partisanship of gerrymandered districts rests on the subtleties and complexities of our vaguely geographic districts with one representative each. Exactly one representative per district is the law of the land. Interestingly, what actually counts as a “district” is more open than most people realize, and it doesn’t have to be strictly geographical.
I’m finishing up a full exploration of how single-member districts lead to gerrymandering, plus the current opening for non-partisans like me. Also, a story about the worst pizza party ever!