Republicans have a narrow advantage in the US House of Representatives…
They have good reason to worry that they WILL lose their narrow majority in a year and half….
So?
Why NOT try to game the system?
Ah?
Democrats ARE looking to get into the game also….
Texas….
Texas Republicans unveiled a proposal for new congressional maps Wednesday as a redistricting battleheats up across the country.
The maps are expected to create five new House seats that President Trump won by double digits in November. Trump had pressed Lone Star State Republicans to redraw the lines to protect the party’s narrow 219-212 House majority in next year’s midterms.
State Rep. Todd Hunter (R) filed the proposal as Texas lawmakers met for a special session.
The maps could endanger Democrats’ efforts to take back the lower chamber next year. In response to the moves in Texas, Democrats in California and other blue states have floated their own redistricting possibilities, heating up a redistricting war ahead of the midterms.
“Just a simple redrawing. We pick up five seats,” Trump said of the plans earlier this month.
…
But Democrats have argued that while shifting voters from solidly red districts to bluer ones could make Democratic-held seats more competitive, it could endanger some now-safe GOP seats.
Changes to the maps could also blunt challenges to the maps that Texas drew after the 2020 census, including a trial in El Paso in which voter advocates have alleged that the maps discriminate against some Black and Latino voters.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is expected meet with Democrats in Texas on Wednesday as Democrats weigh ways to fight back, according to Politico….
….
Californa….
For now, California Democrats are publicly rallying behind a national push to counter a similar effort led by the GOP in Texas. Even frontline House members are saying Democrats have to be armed with every option.
But it’s one thing to proclaim your support for a plan embraced by party grandees like Newsom and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Getting 54 Assembly votes and 27 Senate votes for new maps is a different matter. Some of the Democrats who will be asked to vote for the gambit will have to balance personal plans and party priorities.
Rarely does a vote in the state Legislature so directly tie into national politics or draw in national figures.
Some career ambitions are an open secret: State Sen. Scott Wiener’s run to replace Rep. Nancy Pelosi is only a matter of when Pelosi retires, and Speaker Robert Rivas is widely seen as a contender to replace Rep. Zoe Lofgren when she exits. A half-dozen other House Democrats sitting on safe seats around the state are in their 70s or 80s…
…
Newsom has said he’s reviewing three or four options to proceed, including simply having the Legislature draw lines on the theory it retains the authority to do so despite California’s independent commission. But Bonta’s remarks suggest a special election could be the smoothest path — though it would still be a bumpy one.
Governors have a way of getting what they want — particularly when they’re rowing alongside the national Democratic apparatus — and Newsom’s message of confronting and countering Republicans has resonated with plenty of Democrats. But the changes Newsom is seeking may compel incumbents to dust off their contingency plans….
Update….
The Hill does New York, Florida, Ohio, Missouri, New Jersey, Illinois, and Indiana Redistricting Reviews…
Note…
New York a few other Blue states may move to redrawing their House Districts….