Friend --

Welcome to the 2nd edition of how we fought back for our Democracy. In this edition: why Rigging the maps did not save Trump and his allies. 

History says the party in power struggles in the midterms.

Donald Trump and his advisers knew it. So instead of earning voters’ support, they tried to rewrite the rules, they tried to get cute and rig the maps. They pushed Republican-led states to redraw their congressional maps in the middle of the decade and gerrymander the seats even further, in a bid to lock in their majority before a single vote was cast.

It didn’t save them.

At Country First, we wish every map were drawn by a nonpartisan commission. But we live in the political world we live in, and when democracy is on the line, you don’t bring a clipboard to a street fight. A number of Blue States answered in kind and we supported and lobbied for that move.

Then you did the rest. You saw this power grab for exactly what it was: an affront to democracy and an attempt to choose voters before voters could choose. And you refused to accept it.

Look at Texas. The new map was supposed to deliver five new Republican seats. It delivered one.   And That’s because people are not stupid, they saw right through the political tricks and stood up and said enough is enough.

So, thank you. Thank you to every Country First member who lobbied blue states to answer the gerrymander. Thank you for taking the resources we built on redistricting and putting them to work, calling, writing and pressing public officials to act.

And most of all, thank you for proving to this administration that political tricks in the middle of a decade are no match for the will of the voters putting their Country first. 

Thank you,

The Country First Team
https://www.country1st.com/