Last month, Texas Republicans approved a mid-decade redistricting plan that could give the party five additional congressional seats in the 2026 midterm elections. After months of unpopular policies spewing from the federal government, Trump-backed GOP representatives have decided to gerrymander their way to continued control of Congress rather than listening to voters’ concerns.
Governors in blue states have criticized the move as a threat to democracy and have vied to balance the scales by redrawing their own congressional maps. Spearheading this effort, Gavin Newsom is attempting to bypass California’s independent redistricting commission to gain blue seats ahead of the midterms, potentially offsetting Texas losses. Such a move would undermine the work California has done to create fair elections for all its constituents. While claiming the moral high ground, Newsom has merely joined his Republican counterparts in silencing voters across the aisle. Democrats must realize that the answer to gerrymandering cannot be more gerrymandering — a path that would send the nation into further political upheaval. Instead, Democrats should fight for legitimate elections in the courts and on Capitol Hill.
Partisan gerrymandering, while legal, is deeply unpopular. A recent YouGov survey found that 69% of Americans believe that it should be illegal to design electoral maps that put a specific party at a political disadvantage. These unfair redistricting practices hinder competition in congressional elections. In 2024, only 8% of congressional races and 7% of state legislative races were won by less than five points. Without fear of losing their elected office, politicians across the political spectrum can functionally ignore a large portion of their moderate constituents, instead playing to the increasingly extreme bases and threatening democratic integrity across the country.
Redistricting does not necessarily have to lead to unfair elections. Several states, including California, already implement some form of a nonpartisan redistricting commission to remove political calculus from the equation when creating electoral districts. California’s redistricting commission was established almost two decades ago after Californians voted in a ballot measure to ensure fair representation for all in their state constitution. Though Newsom’s proposed plan to give his party an edge in Congress would only temporarily remove redistricting control from the commission, doing so would set a dangerous precedent that future politicians could use to justify further gerrymandering. Even if Newsom’s plan is not repeated, Republicans in California deserve to have their voices represented proportionally in 2026. Failing to do so would be a stain on California’s election integrity.
Some critics argue that President Trump’s extreme tactics demand a new political playbook. If Trump is allowed to continue his assault on America’s institutions with little pushback, why should the Democratic Party not resort to the same tactics to salvage these very institutions? Those who ask this question raise a fair point. Democrats must respond harshly to Trump’s redistricting efforts. But Democrats are already the minority group in Congress — losing a few more seats is not significant enough to justify further harming our elections.
To properly counter Texas’s redistricting, Democrats should instead focus their attention on supporting litigation, such as the National Redistricting Foundation’s legal assistance in a recent lawsuit against Texas. The complaint argues that Texas’s new congressional map breaks up coalition districts that have a majority of minority voters, indicating that Texas Republicans may have violated the Voting Rights Act by considering race when drawing the new maps. Instead of disenfranchising more voters, Democrats should call attention to the fact that 60% of Texans belong to a racial minority, but minority voters only control 27% of congressional seats. Democrats should stop gerrymandering through targeted lawsuits rather than creating more election inequality.
Lawmakers angered by Trump’s push to gain more red seats should also turn to national legislation on redistricting. Prior bills, such as the Freedom to Vote Act and the Redistricting Reform Act, would have banned partisan gerrymandering by adopting commonsense standards, including bans on mid-decade redistricting and criteria for drawing maps without favoring political parties. By focusing on long-term solutions, Democrats can effectively respond to Trump’s attacks on our elections while maintaining their integrity.
Trump’s push to redraw congressional lines in red states is a symptom of his crusade to divide the nation. When Americans are separated politically, Trump thrives. He can point to extreme policies on the left as justification for his own abuse of federal power. Democrats who take Trump’s bait by advocating for gerrymandering in their own states will only find greater problems down the road, as more governors on both sides of the aisle pledge to weaken the credibility of their elections.
By making the same disgraceful political move as Trump, Newsom’s response to the president amounts to: “He started it.” While California may guarantee a win in the short term, doing so would threaten years of progress toward election integrity. Students on College Hill should not forget their morals by praising nearsighted politics. Instead, Brunonians who fear Trump’s growing authoritarian rule must stay focused on the ultimate goal of preserving American democracy beyond this administration.
Ethan Canfield ’28 can be reached at ethan_canfield@brown.edu. Please send responses to this column to letters@browndailyherald.com and other opinions to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
