Former President Obama supported the plans of the California Democrats to re -draw the districts of the Congress if Texas or other state led by the Republicans does so to increase the possibilities of the Republican Party to maintain control of the Congress after the medium -term elections next year.
Obama said that while opposing partisan Gerrymandering, Republicans in Texas acting at the request of President Trump have forced the hands of the Democrats.
If the Democrats “do not respond effectively, then this White House and state governments controlled by the Republicans throughout the country, will not stop, because they do not seem to believe in this idea of an inclusive and expansive democracy,” he said in a collection of funds on Tuesday in the Martha vineyard that was first informed by Associated Press on Wednesday.
“I wanted a fair fight between Republicans and Democrats based on who has better ideas, and take it to voters and see what happens,” said Obama, “… but we cannot allow one of the two main games to manipulate the game. And California is one of the states that has the ability to compensate for a great state like Texas.”
The redistribution of districts usually only occurs per decade, after the census, to account for population changes. In 2010, the Californians voted to create an independent districts redistribution commission to end partisan Gerrymandering. The 52 districts of the California Congress were last reduced in 2021.
Earlier this summer, Trump urged Texas leaders to re -draw their congress limits to increase the number of Republicans in Congress. Directed by Governor Gavin Newsom, California Democrats responded and proposed to re -draw the state district lines and put the matter before voters in a special election in November.
The theme reached a point of view this week, and Texas legislators hoped to vote in their new districts on Wednesday, and California legislators hoped to vote on Thursday to call the special elections.
Obama described the Newsom approach as “responsible”, because the matter will finally be decided by the voters, and if approved, it would only come into force if Texas or another state embark on a redistribution of districts in the middle of the decade, and the line drawing would return to the independent commission after the 2030 census.
“I think that approach is an intelligent and measured approach, designed to address a very particular problem at a very particular time in time,” Obama said.
