Counties are very static in shape and number. Districts can change every ten years, because the number of districts (and therefore representatives) is determined by the population of the state relative to the national population. When states gain or lose seats, they have to redraw the districts. And even if they stay the same, population numbers within each district can shift and you would need to adjust the map to make it “fair” again.
And the GOP takes advantage of this to redraw district lines in neighborhoods which benefit them, resulting in all sorts of wacky and bizarre district maps that make no sense, and are clearly engineered to favor Republicans.
The only way Republicans can win is by cheating, and they are very, very good at cheating and getting away with it.
You make it sound like they’re almost competent, like nobody knows what they’re doing. Everyone knows, and they still get away with it. No hiding whatsoever.
Just because Trump‘s brains are mashed potatoes, don’t assume the rest of the GOP are idiots. They know exactly what they’re doing, and they’ve been getting away with it for a very long time.
Underestimating your enemy is how you lose to them.
The difference between the DNC and the GOP politicians is not a matter of intelligence. It’s a matter of shameless corruption in the service of fascism vs those who fight in order to preserve even the hint of a stable, liberal democracy.
It’s complicated. In my state (Louisiana), there has to be 2 of the 6 congressional districts that are majority black. Republicans tried to make it one but got rebuffed by courts since the state is ~33% black. They don’t draw the districts to be rectangular or follow parishes (our equivalent to counties). They’re drawn to allow oppressed groups to be represented.
And since the two of the most powerful House Republicans are from Louisiana, they made sure they had safe seats. So, the elections are basically predetermined.
As a Canadian, I don’t even understand how that works. How do they even go at checking the district limits? Don’t they follow county lines?
Counties are very static in shape and number. Districts can change every ten years, because the number of districts (and therefore representatives) is determined by the population of the state relative to the national population. When states gain or lose seats, they have to redraw the districts. And even if they stay the same, population numbers within each district can shift and you would need to adjust the map to make it “fair” again.
And the GOP takes advantage of this to redraw district lines in neighborhoods which benefit them, resulting in all sorts of wacky and bizarre district maps that make no sense, and are clearly engineered to favor Republicans.
The only way Republicans can win is by cheating, and they are very, very good at cheating and getting away with it.
You make it sound like they’re almost competent, like nobody knows what they’re doing. Everyone knows, and they still get away with it. No hiding whatsoever.
Just because Trump‘s brains are mashed potatoes, don’t assume the rest of the GOP are idiots. They know exactly what they’re doing, and they’ve been getting away with it for a very long time.
Underestimating your enemy is how you lose to them.
The difference between the DNC and the GOP politicians is not a matter of intelligence. It’s a matter of shameless corruption in the service of fascism vs those who fight in order to preserve even the hint of a stable, liberal democracy.
Ah ok so it’s based on the amount of population?
It’s complicated. In my state (Louisiana), there has to be 2 of the 6 congressional districts that are majority black. Republicans tried to make it one but got rebuffed by courts since the state is ~33% black. They don’t draw the districts to be rectangular or follow parishes (our equivalent to counties). They’re drawn to allow oppressed groups to be represented.
And since the two of the most powerful House Republicans are from Louisiana, they made sure they had safe seats. So, the elections are basically predetermined.