My own thinking about how to combat the scourge of Republican gerrymandering has evolved. I’ve always been a fierce defender of democracy who is not afraid of a partisan brawl. I understand the power of litigation as a tool to combat anti-democratic schemes. That has not changed.
However, times have changed. Democracy is hanging by a thread. Simply mitigating partisan gerrymandering by fighting state by state and district by district isn’t enough.
Democrats should make the problem of partisan gerrymandering an even bigger one for Republicans. Put simply: If Republicans threaten five Democratic seats in Texas, Democrats should threaten fifteen, twenty or even thirty Republican seats in states they control.
It’s not enough to say Democrats shouldn't bring a knife to a gun fight — if Republicans bring pistols, Democrats should bring machine guns.
My inspiration for this approach comes from an unlikely source: President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who once observed that sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to enlarge it rather than shrink it:
“Whenever I run into a problem I can’t solve, I always make it bigger. I can never solve it by trying to make it smaller, but if I make it big enough, I can begin to see the outlines of a solution.”
For years, Democrats have tried to limit the effects of partisan gerrymandering by trying to make it smaller. They’ve enacted laws and state constitutional restrictions to prevent drawing maps based on partisan intent. They’ve sued to stop the use of partisanship in redistricting. Yet, if the last week is anything to go by, the problem has only worsened.
While many Democratic-controlled states have banned or limited partisan gerrymandering, Republican-controlled states have celebrated it. Democrats in states with restrictions adhere to those laws, while Republicans openly flout them. When a Democratic state loses a lawsuit, it redraws a compliant map. When Republicans are defeated in court, they remain stubbornly defiant.
This week, it seems clearer than ever that the solution is to, as Eisenhower suggested, “make it bigger.” Democrats must aggressively redraw maps at the expense of Republicans. The more aggressive, the better. The goal is to make the problem so large that Republican House members pressure their leadership to call it off.
Right now, Republicans are bratty toddlers who have never experienced consequences for their actions. They’ve been told no, but they’ve never been punished. It’s past time that we punish them.
We’ve already seen governors like J.B. Pritzker, Gavin Newsom and Kathy Hochul signal that they are exploring ways to counter GOP gerrymandering. Other Democratic governors with legislative majorities should do the same.
Former Attorney General Eric Holder issued an important statement that should help pave the way for more leading Democrats to adopt a more aggressive approach to an existential problem.
“Let me be clear,” Holder’s statement read. “Our enduring commitment to fairness does not blind us to reality. In this moment steps must be taken to respond to the authoritarian measures being considered in certain states and now so brazenly taken in Texas.”
There is no guarantee this will succeed. Republicans may escalate their own gerrymandering. They may simply ignore the law.
But if we refuse to fight we are simply admitting defeat — and the consequences for democracy will be devastating. Now is the time to go big in our fight for free and fair elections.
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