California Redistricting

As tensions rise between the blue and red states, a new factor has come into play. In August, Texas’s majority Republican legislature passed a new congressional map of their state. Although this may not seem like a big deal to Californians, it is a huge deal regarding the fragile power balance in America. 

Texas’s reason for drawing up a new map of the state is because of redistricting. Redistricting is a process that occurs every ten years, where state districts will be redrawn—ensuring that each representative in the House of Representatives is in charge of the same amount of people, theoretically giving everyone in America a say. However, Texas has begun the process of redistricting much earlier than the ten-year cycle, which is supposed to occur for each state in 2030. Many states, such as California, believe that Texas is doing so because of partisan and potential racial gerrymandering.

The term gerrymandering originates from 1812 in Massachusetts, where then-Governor Elbridge Gerry signed off on a bill creating the state’s new districts. Many believe that Gerry only signed the bill because it helped his party by changing political representation in certain districts. In fact, when looking at the old map, the district lines were drawn in such a distorted way that it resembled a salamander, therefore earning the name “Gerrymander.” By gerrymandering, politicians can do one of two things: “pack” or “crack” voters. By “packing” voters, they aim to minimize the effect that the opposing party’s voters have by placing them into only a few districts. On the other hand, “cracking” voters divides a large group of voters into separate districts, thinning their numbers and hence their ability to win elections. Often, this is done against districts with a specific racial group, either cramming voters together to reduce their effectiveness or splitting them up to decrease their voting power. 

Additionally, there are many other ways politicians use redistricting to strengthen their party’s chances of winning. The most simple one is changing which person votes for which representative, potentially changing the entire identity or political allegiance voters may have. By splitting up voters, remapping can also create an environment where a district is less competitive, essentially ensuring that a specific party gets their representative elected in that district. This can also demoralize certain voters who don’t believe their vote will matter, resulting in decreased voter turnout.

Texas’s redistricting plan aims to add as many as five Republicans to the House of Representatives. In turn, the party has been accused of breaking the rules of the ten-year cycle, as well as having racially motivated ideals. This has led to California issuing a proposition known as Prop 50 or the Election Rigging Response Act, which will allow them to remap their districts before the ten year cycle. Voting on Proposition 50 will take place on November 4, 2025, and its goal is to earn more Democrats in the House of Representatives, neutralizing the increased Republican representatives emerging from Texas’s new congressional map.