I spent hundreds of hours in the 2018-2020 timeframe volunteering with OneVirginia2021, the NGO that drove the passage of the 2020 constitutional amendment to use an independent commission to redistrict. This was the first time in the history of the nation that a state legislature voluntarily ceded the power to redistrict to the people -- all the other commission amendments were driven by referenda. Democrats were in power in Virginia when it happened (although many of them really preferred to gerrymander). As I explained in a recent letter to the Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/11/14/nostalgia-1950s-midcentury-gerrymandering/), I nonetheless supported the most recent amendment as well -- because if Democrats always support commissions, and Republicans always support gerrymandering, the Republicans will always win, even when (as now) they're in the minority. In 2001, the Democrats in the House of Representatives assigned the number HR1 -- the highest profile bill of that session -- to a bill that would have comprehensively reformed voting in this country, and that would have mandated that all states use independent commissions to draw congressional districts. The Republicans opposed it, so it didn't pass. I'm sorry to sound partisan (I used to be a Republican), but only one side is playing fair in this country, on balance, and I'm sick of living under the would-be autocracy of the other side. If Democrats can ever take control of the WH and Congress, then we'll have fair maps, either via legislation, or via a Supreme Court that recognizes that gerrymandering violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Nothing short of that is a reliable solution.
I confess I would be more tempted to listen to you if your frame was "yet another Trump-powered enthusiastic Republican-adopted norm breaking has induced yet another downward spiral", rather than "both sides do it!"
It is a fact that the best way that government, private businesses, charities, and you can help every person achieve maximum potential would be if the Republicans would join in impeaching Donald Trump. Yet... you never say that. Nor do you say—here and elsewhere—that Democratic legislators and justices have a history and program of cutting back on gerrymandering, while Republicans have one of expanding it.
So, really, what business do you think you are in, Gene?
At a bare minimum, drop the "Democrats feel..." for "Democrats are..." and lose the "whatever the merits..." concessions—they do little except convince me you don't dare say it straight.
Yours, Brad DeLong
> **Eugene Steurle**: Limiting Gerrymandering <https://governmentwedeserve.substack.com/p/limiting-gerrymandering>: 'How Governors Can Stop The Disenfranchisement of Their Voters by Empowering the Fair-mappers over the Map-riggers.... Let’s be clear. The Democrats in Virginia and California feel they were merely responding to Republican gerrymandering efforts, promoted by President Trump, in Texas and elsewhere. “If you can play dirty,” so to speak, “so can we.” Moreover, the timing of these map-rigging efforts by Democrats and Republicans alike is outside the traditional process, established by the Constitution, for redrawing boundaries every ten years after completion of the Census, when the number of seats in each state might change. Whatever the validity of claims of parity or equity, both parties are engaged in a negative-sum game in which the nation loses...
I’d suggest requiring the use of an algorithm as has been discussed multiple times on Ted talks. No more humans in the loop, just inputs that everyone can agree to as well as a transparent method for how district boundaries are drawn. No more cracking and stacking, minimal areas to achieve a given population goal, etc.
Neither side of politicians will agree to same because gerrymanders benefit both the dominant as well as the opposition party by making districts “safe” and thus making the primaries the big race to win. So we, the voters, have to force politicians to our will.
A close friend of mine served on the most recent redistricting commission in Colorado. She was the only independent voter on the committee. The political pressure on the committee members was intense. Lauren Boebert ended up switching districts. No matter what you do, the jockeying continues. I agree with Brad DeLong if he's saying that Trump threatens democracy and the lives of countless people. Republican legislators need to help oust him before he does more irreparable damage.
I spent hundreds of hours in the 2018-2020 timeframe volunteering with OneVirginia2021, the NGO that drove the passage of the 2020 constitutional amendment to use an independent commission to redistrict. This was the first time in the history of the nation that a state legislature voluntarily ceded the power to redistrict to the people -- all the other commission amendments were driven by referenda. Democrats were in power in Virginia when it happened (although many of them really preferred to gerrymander). As I explained in a recent letter to the Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/11/14/nostalgia-1950s-midcentury-gerrymandering/), I nonetheless supported the most recent amendment as well -- because if Democrats always support commissions, and Republicans always support gerrymandering, the Republicans will always win, even when (as now) they're in the minority. In 2001, the Democrats in the House of Representatives assigned the number HR1 -- the highest profile bill of that session -- to a bill that would have comprehensively reformed voting in this country, and that would have mandated that all states use independent commissions to draw congressional districts. The Republicans opposed it, so it didn't pass. I'm sorry to sound partisan (I used to be a Republican), but only one side is playing fair in this country, on balance, and I'm sick of living under the would-be autocracy of the other side. If Democrats can ever take control of the WH and Congress, then we'll have fair maps, either via legislation, or via a Supreme Court that recognizes that gerrymandering violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Nothing short of that is a reliable solution.
I confess I would be more tempted to listen to you if your frame was "yet another Trump-powered enthusiastic Republican-adopted norm breaking has induced yet another downward spiral", rather than "both sides do it!"
It is a fact that the best way that government, private businesses, charities, and you can help every person achieve maximum potential would be if the Republicans would join in impeaching Donald Trump. Yet... you never say that. Nor do you say—here and elsewhere—that Democratic legislators and justices have a history and program of cutting back on gerrymandering, while Republicans have one of expanding it.
So, really, what business do you think you are in, Gene?
At a bare minimum, drop the "Democrats feel..." for "Democrats are..." and lose the "whatever the merits..." concessions—they do little except convince me you don't dare say it straight.
Yours, Brad DeLong
> **Eugene Steurle**: Limiting Gerrymandering <https://governmentwedeserve.substack.com/p/limiting-gerrymandering>: 'How Governors Can Stop The Disenfranchisement of Their Voters by Empowering the Fair-mappers over the Map-riggers.... Let’s be clear. The Democrats in Virginia and California feel they were merely responding to Republican gerrymandering efforts, promoted by President Trump, in Texas and elsewhere. “If you can play dirty,” so to speak, “so can we.” Moreover, the timing of these map-rigging efforts by Democrats and Republicans alike is outside the traditional process, established by the Constitution, for redrawing boundaries every ten years after completion of the Census, when the number of seats in each state might change. Whatever the validity of claims of parity or equity, both parties are engaged in a negative-sum game in which the nation loses...
I’d suggest requiring the use of an algorithm as has been discussed multiple times on Ted talks. No more humans in the loop, just inputs that everyone can agree to as well as a transparent method for how district boundaries are drawn. No more cracking and stacking, minimal areas to achieve a given population goal, etc.
Neither side of politicians will agree to same because gerrymanders benefit both the dominant as well as the opposition party by making districts “safe” and thus making the primaries the big race to win. So we, the voters, have to force politicians to our will.
Start a Constitutional Amendment. I think it would pass.
A close friend of mine served on the most recent redistricting commission in Colorado. She was the only independent voter on the committee. The political pressure on the committee members was intense. Lauren Boebert ended up switching districts. No matter what you do, the jockeying continues. I agree with Brad DeLong if he's saying that Trump threatens democracy and the lives of countless people. Republican legislators need to help oust him before he does more irreparable damage.