Category: Redistricting
Democrats’ gerrymandering campaign in Virginia hits a snag: Obama
Democrats have spoken out of both sides of their mouths on the matter of redistricting.
Proposed changes to congressional maps that would boost Democrats’ chances in elections are, on the one hand, purportedly a means to “help level the playing field,” a way to “restore fairness,” and — in the words of Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger — a “response to what we’re seeing in other states that have taken extreme measures to undermine democratic norms.”
‘Gerrymandering is when politicians manipulate the maps in order to predetermine the outcome.’
When faced with proposed changes to congressional maps that threaten their power, Democrats have alternatively likened redistricting efforts to the Holocaust, called them “a threat to democracy,” and characterized them as “authoritarian.”
This hypocrisy has proven to be an issue for proponents of Virginia’s proposed constitutional amendment, which is on the ballot in the April 21 special election.
The National Democratic Redistricting Committee — a supporter of voting “yes” in the gerrymandering referendum that would all but ensure that 10 out of the state’s 11 congressional seats go to Democrats — complained on Thursday about opponents of the proposed amendment turning to former President Barack Obama for support.
“A MAGA-aligned dark money group is trying to fool Virginia voters with a dishonest mailer that features an unauthorized photo of President Barack Obama and lies about his position on the Virginia referendum,” the NDRC said.
“The ‘No’ campaign and its allied MAGA-funded dark money groups are so terrified of the voters that they are resorting to desperate, deceptive tactics like this one to spread misinformation and lies,” said John Bisognano, president of the NDRC. “There is no confusion. President Obama endorses voting YES to stop Trump and his MAGA allies from rigging our elections and to protect the rights and voting power of the American people ahead of the midterms.”
One of the mailers features an image of Obama along with the quote, “For too long, gerrymandering has contributed to stalled progress and warped our representative government,” reported the Virginia Mercury.
While characterized by the NDRC and the NAACP Virginia State Conference as so-called misinformation, the Obama quote is indeed genuine — and its context is damning.
RELATED: Red-state inaction is the soft underbelly of border politics
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Obama wrote in a July 8, 2020, post on X, “For too long, gerrymandering has contributed to stalled progress and warped our representative government. Redistricting begins next year — let’s all do our part to protect and restore our democracy.”
Obama then urged Americans to join him “in the fight for fair maps” — specifically to support a possible constitutional amendment that would curb gerrymandering.
In the video accompanying the former president’s 2020 post, Obama states, “Gerrymandering is a sneaky way for politicians to consolidate as much power as they can.”
Another activist featured in the video adds, “Gerrymandering is when politicians manipulate the maps in order to predetermine the outcome so that it benefits one side over the other.”
‘Barack Obama, Abigail Spanberger, and others have already spoken against this kind of gerrymandering.’
Eric Holder, former President Obama’s scandal-plagued attorney general, notes in the video that “you see the greatest amount of voter suppression when you see the greatest amount of gerrymandering.”
Desperate to secure a majority in the U.S. House in the midterm elections, Obama and Democrats have jettisoned their supposedly principled stance from yesteryear and are now speaking out of the other side of their mouths.
Obama, specifically, is supporting the “yes” campaign.
In addition to featuring in a video championing Democrat gerrymandering, he stated last month, “Several Republican-controlled states have redrawn their congressional maps to give themselves an unfair advantage in the midterm elections. Now Virginia has a chance to help level the playing field.”
The mailer that highlighted Obama’s hypocrisy and urged voters to “Protect Minority Representation” was sent to Virginia voters last week by the Justice for Democracy PAC, reported the Virginia Independent News.
A similar graphic was reportedly texted to Virginia voters by the Democracy and Justice PAC — which, like Justice for Democracy, is chaired by former Virginia Del. A.C. Cordoza (R) — along with the following message, “President Barack Obama says ‘For too long gerrymandering has contributed to our stalled progress and warped our representative government.’ That’s why it’s important next month to vote NO against Virginia’s redistricting effort.”
As proponents of the gerrymandering initiative melted down over the sight of Obama in the opposition mailers, Cordoza said in a statement to CNN, “No one can refute the accuracy of the quotes we’re presenting. Barack Obama, Abigail Spanberger, and others have already spoken against this kind of gerrymandering — I’m simply reminding voters where they stood.”
A Tazewell County judge ruled on Jan. 27 that the proposed constitutional amendment was unlawful. The Virginia Supreme Court then ruled last month that Virginians can still vote for it in the statewide April referendum, though the commonwealth high court may yet uphold the lower court’s injunction.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Utah Expands Supreme Court Ahead Of Redistricting Appeal
‘I would err on the side that seven sets of eyes reviewing the most complex and difficult issues our state has ever faced is better than having only five sets of eyes’
Judicial Watch Analysis: Maryland’s Proposed 2026 Congressional Map Replicates Unconstitutional Gerrymander Previously Struck Down in Judicial Watch Lawsuit
Proposed Map Is More Extreme Than the 2021 Plan Invalidated by Court; Targets Maryland’s Sole Republican District (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that a Democrat-proposed 2026 congressional redistricting plan for Maryland is in key respects identical to the unconstitutional gerrymander struck down in a prior Judicial Watch lawsuit—but is even more partisan and […]
The post Judicial Watch Analysis: Maryland’s Proposed 2026 Congressional Map Replicates Unconstitutional Gerrymander Previously Struck Down in Judicial Watch Lawsuit appeared first on Judicial Watch.
‘Total RINO’: Trump vows to oust Indiana Republican leader over redistricting betrayal
President Donald Trump has vowed to “take out” the Republican leader in the Indiana Senate for failing to enact the administration’s preferred congressional map.
With the 2026 primaries fast approaching, Republicans and Democrats have been gone head-to-head in several states over congressional redistricting. While both parties have seen some success in redrawing districts to their partisan benefit, Indiana Senate Majority Leader Rod Bray’s chamber struck down a new map that would have created two red congressional seats.
‘Republican’s House majority continues to shrink.’
“I was with David McIntosh of the Club for Growth, and we agreed that we will both work tirelessly together to take out Indiana Senate Majority Leader Rod Bray, a total RINO, who betrayed the Republican Party, the President of the United States, and everyone else who wants to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump said in a Truth Social Post.
“We’re after you Bray, like no one has ever come after you before!”
RELATED: Vance casts tiebreaking war powers vote after Republicans betray Trump
Kaiti Sullivan/Bloomberg via Getty Images
McIntosh confirmed Trump’s statement, saying he and the president are “aligned.”
“Rod Bray is going down,” McIntosh said in a post on X.
Trump’s frustration with Bray comes as the Republicans’ House majority continues to shrink with resignations, impending retirements, and the tragic death of GOP Rep. Doug LaMalfa of California.
Because of the successful redistricting efforts of blue states like California, many Republican seats are rated “toss-ups” by the Cook Political Report, leaving a lot of wiggle room for Democrats to regain control of the House. Just four Democrat-held seats are currently rated “toss-up,” while 14 Republican seats share the same electoral uncertainty.
RELATED: California Republican suddenly dies at age 65
Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
There is also a trend of alternating between unified and divided governments every Congress, with the latter half of a president’s term often being paired with an opposing Congress. Although this is not the case for every modern presidency, it is an observable pattern that pundits and political operatives are bracing themselves for.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Dem Leader Goes On Bizarre Rant Against Her Own ‘Cuck’ Senators
‘How about you all stay focused on the fascist in the White House and let us handle redistricting in Virginia. 10-1’
Supreme Court Allows Texas To Use New Map
judges should avoid changing election rules close to an election
Utah Republicans just let Democrats steal a seat they could never win
A Utah judge just turned a safe Republican congressional seat into a near-guaranteed Democrat seat — and she did it in a state controlled top to bottom by Republicans. How does that happen? A generation of weak Republicans in the elected branches handed liberals control of the judicial branch and gave them the ballot initiative system they needed to take over the state piece by piece.
Democrats can’t win statewide office in half the country, so they’ve turned ballot initiatives into their weapon of choice. Pollsters craft soothing messaging, activists gather signatures, and voters — thinking they’re supporting neutrality — unknowingly approve measures that shift power to Democrats.
Supermajority states serve as a control group. The problem isn’t power; the problem is the GOP’s refusal to wield it.
The “nonpartisan redistricting commission” scam remains their most effective tool. These commissions always promise fairness, and they always produce more Democratic seats.
Utah proved the point in 2018, when 66% of voters approved Proposition 4, even though most Utahns don’t want Democrats running the state. The same tactic produced Medicaid expansion and marijuana legalization. None of these measures would have survived the legislature — but they passed once voters encountered them in isolation.
James Madison warned against pure democracy for this exact reason. A republic draws authority from the “great body of the society,” not from a small faction or self-appointed elite. Ballot-initiative commissions flip that logic on its head. They let unelected actors redraw power for themselves.
Here comes the judge
After the 2020 census, Utah’s legislature drew a fourth Republican congressional seat, as the state constitution requires. Democrats and their allies at the League of Women Voters sued to nullify the map and force a Salt Lake-centered Democrat seat.
In August, Third District Judge Dianna Gibson obliged. She declared the legislature’s map unconstitutional because, in her view, it ignored Prop. 4 — even though the constitution explicitly vests redistricting power in the legislature. She ordered a new process for 2026 and told both sides to submit maps.
The GOP-controlled legislature complied, proposing a compromise map and passing SB 1011 to impose “partisan fairness” tests on future redistricting so the commission couldn’t hand Democrats a permanent advantage.
Gibson ignored all of it. On Nov. 10, she tossed the legislative map, sidelined SB 1011, and adopted the map drawn by the very activist groups suing the state — the same groups that engineered Prop. 4.
Plainly unconstitutional
Nothing in Utah’s constitution supports what Gibson did. Article IX, Section 1 states that the legislature “shall divide the state” into congressional districts. A commission cannot do it. A judge cannot do it. Activists certainly cannot do it.
Yet Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson signed off on Gibson’s map, even though state law required her to certify only lawful maps. That decision reflects a deeper problem: Too many Utah Republicans treat constitutional violations as minor inconveniences and concede ground to Democrats who never reciprocate.
Democrats defend Gibson’s ruling by citing Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (2015), when Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg reinterpreted the word “legislature” to include ballot initiatives. Even if you grant that tortured reading of the U.S. Constitution, Utah’s constitution is far more explicit. Only the legislature draws maps.
RELATED: Democrats crown judges while crying about kings
Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Make impeachment great again
At the federal level, impeachment has become an empty threat. Senate math makes convictions nearly impossible. But red states with Republican supermajorities don’t face that obstacle.
Utah’s legislature holds a 61-14 majority in the House and a 22-6 majority in the Senate. Rep. Trevor Lee (R-Utah) on my show last week called for the impeachment of both Judge Gibson and Lt. Gov. Henderson for violating the state constitution. Republicans have the votes to do it — and the constitutional duty to rein in judicial usurpation.
Other states have shown it can be done. In 2018, West Virginia impeached all five members of its Supreme Court for corruption and removed them. Red states such as Oklahoma, Montana, Missouri, and South Carolina face the same problem Utah now faces: liberal judges empowered by timid Republicans.
A perilous path
Utah proves a point conservatives hate to admit. Republicans in Washington often claim they can’t implement the party’s agenda because they lack power. But in Utah, Republicans hold all the power — and still refuse to use it. They allow commissions to override them, courts to embarrass them, and Democrats to seize ground they could never win through elections.
Supermajority states serve as a control group. The problem isn’t power; the problem is the GOP’s refusal to wield it.
Unless Republicans act with conviction, Utah will follow Colorado’s path. Democrats chipped away at Colorado one institution at a time while Republicans shrugged. Now Colorado is a Democratic Party fortress.
Utah is heading down the same trail — unless Republicans use the constitutional tools they still possess.
‘Clear example of judicial activism’: Judge gives Democrats a boost with congressional map in red state
As Republicans attempt to redraw districts to gain a cushion in their razor-thin majority in Congress ahead of the midterms next year, an unexpected setback in a reliably red state raises the stakes.
A redistricting case in Utah has potentially thrown a wrench in the nationwide redistricting battle.
‘Turns out, she was orchestrating it from the start.’
The AP reported that Judge Dianna Gibson has ordered the Utah congressional districts to be redrawn in conformity with a 2018 ballot initiative known as Proposition 4, which in effect could grant Democrats a seat in the House.
Proposition 4’s map was drawn by the League of Women Voters of Utah and Mormon Women for Ethical Government, the plaintiffs of the redistricting case. That map largely keeps Salt Lake City intact in one district rather than breaking it apart, creating a reliably blue voter base that could flip one of the state’s four congressional seats to the Democrats.
Gibson rejected S.B. 200, a congressional map that was enacted by Republican lawmakers and that maintained four seats, on the grounds that it did not meet the rules against gerrymandering.
RELATED: Gov. Gavin Newsom threatens to redistrict California after Texas GOP drops new district map proposal
Photo by Matt Archer/Getty Images
Gibson’s decision was reportedly handed down just a few minutes before the clock struck midnight on Monday.
Republican Utah state Rep. Candice Pierucci called the redrawn map a “clear example of judicial activism.”
Pierucci added, “The Judge drove the entire process, set aggressive deadlines and refused an extension for map drawing by the legislature. We moved 104 lawmakers under those deadlines and she herself couldn’t be bothered to issue the decision before a quarter to midnight. We followed her direction every step of the way — turns out, she was orchestrating it from the start.”
All four Utah congressional seats are currently occupied by Republicans, and Republicans currently have a slim majority in the U.S. House, holding 219 seats to Democrats’ 213. Three seats are vacant following two deaths and one resignation.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Judicial Watch Sues Illinois Gov. Pritzker for Records on ‘Safe Haven’ for Texas Democrat Lawmakers
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) for records on the state’s role in providing refuge to Texas Democrat legislators, who fled their state in an attempt to deny quorum and block a redistricting vote (Judicial Watch Inc. v. Office of the […]
The post Judicial Watch Sues Illinois Gov. Pritzker for Records on ‘Safe Haven’ for Texas Democrat Lawmakers appeared first on Judicial Watch.
Newsom’s gerrymandering Prop. 50 passes easily minutes after polls close in California
The proposition that would allow Democrats in California to further manipulate congressional districts has passed easily, just minutes after polls closed at 8 p.m. local time.
Both the New York Times and the Associated Press almost immediately called the contest. Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom had campaigned for the proposition on the basis that it would help combat redistricting schemes in Texas to help Republicans gain seats in Congress.
‘What Proposition 50 represents to those that have been bullied … to those that are concerned about not only themselves but each other, our community, the city, our state, our nation, and, for that matter, what we represent to rest of the world.’
Proposition 50 was the only item on the ballot in California.
Former Republican California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger came out forcefully against the plan and campaigned to persuade against voting for the proposition.
California spent hundreds of millions of dollars sending 23 million ballots out to the California electorate. It’s expected that five more Democrat seats will be gained in the U.S. Congress because of the proposition.
The president blasted the proposition earlier on Tuesday in a post on social media.
“The Unconstitutional Redistricting Vote in California is a GIANT SCAM in that the entire process, in particular the Voting itself, is RIGGED. All ‘Mail-In’ Ballots, where the Republicans in that State are ‘Shut Out,’ is under very serious legal and criminal review,” he wrote.
Newsom characterized the proposition as a referendum against Trump’s policies, including on immigration.
“People are on edge. Communities of color are on edge. Folks scared to death to go out trick-or-treating the other night, scared to walk their dogs, go to a playground, or go to a park or go to a loved one’s funeral because they might be disappeared on the basis of what they look like, where they congregate, the language they speak,” he said to a group of supporters.
RELATED: ‘He did horrible s**t!’ Rogan rips into Newsom’s presidential aspirations — and he fires back
“The essence of this moment, what Proposition 50 represents to those that have been bullied, to those that have been demeaned, to those that feel powerless, to those that are concerned about not only themselves but each other, our community, the city, our state, our nation, and, for that matter, what we represent to rest of the world,” he added.
“That’s what Prop. 50 represents,” Newsom concluded.
Polling prior to the election had the proposition ahead with the support of about 56% in one poll, while only 43% said they would vote against the measure.
“Donald Trump asks for 5 seats and [Texas Gov.] Greg Abbott automatically bends the knee,” wrote Newsom in a post from July.
“The 2026 election is being rigged. California won’t sit back and watch this happen,” he added.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
