For many years, the left has claimed that the only way to get fair redistricting maps for Congress and the State Legislatures is to create an “independent” redistricting commission, with an equal number of Republicans and Democrats on the commission, which would then draw the legislative and Congressional districts in the state “free of political concerns.” The map would be fair and representative of the population and not “gerrymandered.” The state would enter into political nirvana with districts drawn with an eye to the needs of the communities that the districts represent, and not bow to the politicians in power that are drawing the maps for their own interests. That’s the theory anyway.
Just a little history. The Constitution put the right to draw Congressional districts in the hands of state legislators. In Federalist No. 45, James Madison explains why. Madison says that members of Congress will be required, at least once every ten years, to rely on state legislators to protect their Congressional seat, thereby making Members of Congress somewhat reliant and responsive to state legislators. As a former state legislator, I can tell you the only time I ever saw a member of Congress in my legislative office was in the redistricting of 2001, when the California members of Congress were working on the Congressional maps then.
In the first redistricting process in 1791, Eldridge Gerry, a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, was in charge of drawing the legislative and Congressional districts for the state. When he finished the map, it was evident he had drawn the map to keep the ruling Federalist party in charge of the General Court (the name Massachusetts calls its state legislature) and increase that party’s Members of Congress. One of the opposing party looked at the district maps and commented that one of the districts looked like a salamander. Another allegedly said “that is not a salamander, it’s a Gerrymander,” and the name was born.
Ever since that time, the word “gerrymander” has been used as a term of derision for the constitutionally mandated state legislative process of drawing the election maps for the states and Congress. Whatever one may think of the process, at least the elected officials were responsible to voters for the maps they drew. Appointed commissioners are not.
Worse than that, most independent redistricting commissioners are part time and unpaid. The work of gathering the necessary information for drawing the maps is left to bureaucrats, hired by the Secretary of State in California. Those staff members, who are full time paid employees, control the information going to the commissioners, and quite frankly, control the process. Unelected, and accountable only to their boss, the Democrat Secretary of State, the process of gerrymandering is now controlled by the partisan Secretary of State, who avoids political accountability by claiming the commission is the final decision maker.
So how do we know the Democrats in California are gerrymandering the state’s Congressional and legislative districts, despite the fact that we supposedly have an independent redistricting commission? Listen to the latest rantings of Gavin Newsom, who is threatening to redraw California’s Congressional districts if Texas and Florida redraw their Congressional districts, in order to counter the “partisan” effect of the redistricting in those states.
How can he do that? We supposedly already have fair districts, that is what the commission was supposed to give us. How could the Governor step in and make them more partisan? The fact is the redistricting commission is subservient to the Governor. It is not independent. We know the media knows this because they are not challenging Newsom’s claims to be able to do this. We know now the truth. Our redistricting in California is controlled by an unelected commission that owes it allegiance to the partisan Democrats who manipulate the information to increase the Democrats control of the legislature and Congress.
We were sold a bill of goods when the idea of the independent commission was presented to the voters. We were told it would create bipartisan, fair maps. It did not. Ever since the creation of the commission, the maps have been gerrrymandered by the Democrat Secretaries of State, and solidified Democrat control of California. Newsom has revealed this as his ego and arrogance have driven him to challenge Republicans in other states. At least those Republicans are doing their work in public, with public input, with people who are responsible to the voters if the voters perceive they are abusing their power. Newsom would draw his maps in backrooms with bureaucrats and subservient commissioners he appointed. Which is the better process?