Amid all the ominous political news of this season, Democrats have kept their eyes fixed on a ray of hope: States were redrawing the lines that define congressional districts, and Democrats were making out well in the process. “How Democrats are winning congressional redistricting fights” was a CNN.com headline last month. “Republicans built on their existing gerrymanders to try to expand their House advantage, but Democrats fired back even more powerfully with gerrymanders of their own,” reports Vox.
But gerrymandering isn’t going to save the Democrats. Not this year, and probably not this decade. It may not even do much to help them.
In part, that’s because the new lines aren’t final. In Florida, Republican governor Ron DeSantis has persuaded the state senate to revise the borders in a special legislative session. If his new map prevails, the state will have four more Republican-leaning House seats than it does now.
