Deus Ex Gerrymanderea

Trump threatens D.C. following Big Balls bout

Government decision-making in Washington, D.C., and treatment of its residents is far beyond the pale right now. Earlier this week, President Donald Trump posted on social media a threat to take over D.C.’s police department and rip out our Home Rule because of the likely misreported events of a violent incident involving a former employee of his. That staffer — Edward Coristine, whose nickname is Big Balls — and their retelling of a late-night event spurred the President to repeat his ridiculous characterization of D.C. as a dangerous wasteland. I cannot believe we're in a timeline where the fate of Washington, D.C. self-government rests on a madman's impression of a violent incident involving a second man whose nickname is large testicles. For a President fond of nicknaming, Trump’s pith has degraded from the era of Gen. James “Mad Dog” Mattis.

Texas Democrats fighting to prevent partisan gerrymandering

Today is the 60th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, and a good time to support Democrats from the Texas State Legislature who left their state to prevent Republicans in control from an extreme change to voting districts there. The Governor and Attorney General of Texas are collaborating with the GOP in the Legislature to redraw voting district lines for even greater partisan advantage ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. This is crossing the Rubicon in the process of district drawing: almost never are those changed in the middle of the decade.

As you learn in high school government class, districts for federal and state offices are changed every ten years after the federal Census. Sometimes, court battles over those lines delay the effective dates of the new districts, but the national picture is set by the second election of the decade (XXX4). In the past, Members of Congress took pride in the long-standing district lines. When I interned for Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), he had represented roughly the same rectangle of Southeast Michigan, from the Ohio border, out West to Ann Arbor, and along the Detroit Riverfront North to the Wayne County line.

At the request of the aforementioned madhatter President Trump, Texas Republicans want to redraw districts randomly for partisan advantage. This is a new tactic in the gerrymandering war, and Democratic leaders in California and New York indicate they would retaliate in those states to favor Democrats. I support the Texas Democrats doing everything they can to delay and stop this gambit, and I applaud leaders in other states clearly signaling the consequences. The 2026 midterm election is expected to be extremely close nationwide regarding control of the U.S. House, and why Trump is pushing in Texas.

Democrats, however, are more likely to be bound by state-level reforms in recent years to make district line drawing less partisan and independent from election tactics. This is the disadvantage of only one party attempting reform that threatens self-preservation. I repeat the fact I began with in the previous section: decision-making by Republicans in control is unprecedented. We can’t fix the structural problems without winning power on election day. I point back to the 60-year-old Voting Rights Act — a legislation with constraints the U.S. Supreme Court has loosened considerably in recent terms. The reason I’m suggesting creative resistence from Democrats is precisely because I’ve seen all the explainer videos about “cracking” and “packing.” It’s time we saddle up for the fight to save democracy.

DISCLAIMER: All opinions and analyses in this newsletter are those solely of Gordon Chaffin and do not represent his dog care clients or community groups with which he’s affiliated.