3668

How TF is stuff like that even legal…

3669

Keep in mind that districts drawn to protect incumbents tend to also hurt those incumbents’ majority, i.e. if you pack Republican voters into a district, you leave more other districts for Democrats to capture.

3670

Not if you do it right. The idea isn’t to pack one party into a district, it’s to make sure there are just enough to win every election. Also, if you’re in charge, you can also design districts so that your opposition IS packed into a few districts.

3671

Rep. Stefanik has been a fundraising windfall for her opponent Tedra Cobb.

3672

Right, but Jordan’s district is R+14. It’s packed to protect his incumbency.

3673

Wisconsin calling

3674

There are plenty of Republicans in Ohio. Jordan’s district has been Republican for nearly 100 years. It’s not like this was a recent thing.

3675

молодець, Lt. Col. Vindman.

3676

Val Demings: woo hoo!

3677

The district was redrawn in 2013. Previously it was described almost entirely by county boundaries. Now it’s a monstrosity. Ohio’s map was ruled unConstitutionally gerrymandered earlier this year.

3678

Dude, that’s not even the worst or most contrived gerrymandering job in the state of Ohio. Our entire political map was redrawn in 2011 to essentially counter the effects of urban areas and college towns, which historically vote Democrat, by breaking them up and diluting the resulting pieces heavily with rural, typically Republican voting, areas. In addition to “the duck district” (Gym Jordan’s district) there is “the snake on the lake” and the ridiculous microdistricting that happens around Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati, effectively cordoning off Democratic strongholds so that Republicans will always hold majority sway in the State Legislature.

It’s so fucking ridiculous that even John Kasich, who signed off on the 2011 re-draw as governor, has called for a new more representative map to be drawn. We voted in 2015 to do just that, and Republicans challenged. We voted again in 2018 to redraw, and now the SCOTUS has pushed that back to 2020 at least. This is how shitheels like Gym Jordan get elected and make decent people in Ohio look like a bunch of racist dimwits.

Our entire political landscape in America could improve overnight if we could get rid of the decade worth of gerrymandering that started when America had the audacity to elect a black man President.

3679

“Democrats’ failure to acknowledge their involvement in the 2016 election” – what does that mean? Does he just mean they can’t accept the loss, or something else?

3680

What evidence do you have that it would go blue were it not for that gerrymandering? It wasn’t close before and there was no blue momentum in that area.

3681

I don’t have any evidence and don’t assert that, but I’m guessing they didn’t redraw it just for shits and giggles.

3682

Sorry, I’m not really trying to assert anything. I was just pointing out that there are two reasons to gerrymander: to protect incumbents and to enshrine a majority. And that they’re somewhat at odds with each other.

3683

It’s not specifically about that district but the state as a whole - Republicans received 52.3% of the vote to Democrats’ 47.0% and won 12 of 16 seats. Ohio’s districts are a mess and the defense by Republicans (that apparently is good enough to not redraw maps) was: if they cared so much, they should have complained sooner.

3684

Adam Schiff drops the mic. Let’s have more of that, please, and thank you sir for your service!

That dude has to deal with jet lag every week and he brings it.

Stones.

3685

A good point about Stewart.

3686
3687