Election-year wild card: Gerrymandering by Democrats

If Democrats manage to hang on to their narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives after this fall’s midterm elections, it will be because of places like Glens Falls, New York.

For years it has been a small spot of blue in a mostly red Adirondack district. But under a new map passed last month by New York Democrats, it will become part of a newly redrawn Democratic-tilting district that now snakes an arm up Interstate 87 to grab the quaint town.

Critics are calling the New York congressional map a blatant gerrymander. It could potentially take the state’s eight Republican House members down to as few as four.

And it’s not the only one. After years of decrying partisan gerrymandering, Democrats in states from Illinois to Maryland to Oregon have passed congressional maps that attempt to shore up their own incumbents and eliminate GOP seats. 

Republicans have produced equally gerrymandered maps elsewhere. Add the work of independent commissions or courts, and the result is a national playing field that, on paper at least, increasingly looks something like a draw. In practice, polls currently suggest Republicans have a strong advantage heading into this fall’s midterm elections.

Glens Falls, N.Y.

If Democrats manage to hang on to their narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives after this fall’s midterm elections, it will be because of places like Glens Falls, New York.

Dubbed “hometown, U.S.A.” by Look magazine in 1944, Glens Falls has for years been a small spot of blue in a mostly red Adirondack district. But under a new map passed last month by New York Democrats, it will become part of a newly redrawn Democratic-tilting district based in Albany, which now snakes an arm up Interstate 87 to grab the quaint town of 14,000.

Critics are calling the New York congressional map, which has been signed into law by the governor, one of the most blatant gerrymanders in the country. It could potentially take the state’s eight Republican House members down to as few as four.

And it’s not the only one. After years of decrying partisan gerrymandering and pushing for legislation to outlaw the practice, Democrats in states from Illinois to Maryland to Oregon have passed congressional maps that attempt to shore up their own incumbents and eliminate GOP seats. Having had little say in the last redistricting cycle a decade ago, thanks to the shellacking it took in the 2010 elections, the party has taken advantage of more recent electoral gains to go on offense, aggressively redrawing district lines in certain states in its own favor.

Republicans have produced equally gerrymandered maps elsewhere, in states from Texas to Florida. At the same time, a growing number of states have turned to independent commissions or courts to produce their maps. The result is a national playing field that, on paper at least, increasingly looks something like a draw. Although a few states’ maps are still being debated and court challenges are ongoing, the overall House map now appears almost evenly balanced between Democrat- and Republican-leaning districts for the first time in decades.

Some analysts say Democrats had little choice but to be aggressive where they could – unless they wanted to unilaterally disarm, since Republicans have steadfastly opposed redistricting reform proposals at the federal level.