John,

Yesterday, news broke that the U.S. Supreme Court - in a 6-3 ruling - had fortunately dismissed the “independent state legislature” case that we had all been waiting on.

In short, this was a case brought by the majority party in the North Carolina state legislature that claimed that the U.S. Constitution gives state legislatures sole and complete power to draw legislative districts however they want - the courts would have almost no authority to get involved going forward.

Had this ruling gone the other way, it would have taken our existing gerrymandering problem and made it much worse. State legislatures would have been wholly unconstrained to use redistricting in an overtly partisan manner and it would have led to a gerrymandering arms race between red and blue states.

It also would have likely resulted in the handful of existing independent redistricting commissions across the country being struck down.

How will this affect North Carolina’s upcoming redistricting later this year?

It’s a great ruling for the country, but I don’t see it as a source of relief from the gerrymandering that is likely just around the corner for our state. When the state Supreme Court flipped to majority GOP in the last election, it did so with the implied understanding that it would not stand in the way of extreme GOP gerrymandering.

My district, in particular, is likely to be redrawn by the state legislature in a way that makes re-election a much greater challenge. It’s important for all of us to be realistic about that. We should see the new map by late August.

Coincidentally, this week is the end of the quarter. It’s also our last fundraising deadline before redistricting.

If you’re willing to chip in to help us hit our goal before that deadline, I’d really appreciate it.

If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately:

Best,

Jeff