Illinois Governor JB Pritzker on Fighting Trump’s New Maps Summer is a great time to take up new hobbies, and Donald Trump has been devoting new energy to his interest in geography. In particular, the president is immersing himself in the art of mapmaking, specifically of the electoral-map variety. In the state of Texas, the president would like lawmakers to draw new congressional districts in the hopes of enshrining a Republican majority in the House of Representatives. Trump would like similar things to happen in Indiana and Missouri.
As Molly Jong-Fast writes this week, “You might be wondering if that is normal. In fact, it’s highly irregular.” Usually redistricting happens in the aftermath of a census count so the most recent population numbers are accounted for in the maps. This time the motivation is purely political.
Summer is also a great time for travel, and to avoid voting on such a measure, Democratic lawmakers from Texas have left the state to avoid granting a quorum to the legislature, and dozens of them have taken refuge in Illinois, where the pugnacious governor and Trump critic JB Pritzker has come to their defense. Pritzker tells Jong-Fast, “As I said right after the election, if you try to take away freedom and opportunity from Illinoisans—you come for my people, you come through me.” As Jong-Fast writes, “These days, his people also include a few dozen politicians who live about 1,000 miles away.”
Meanwhile, the Democratic governors of California and New York have intoned that they will pursue aggressive gerrymandering to counteract these measures. Where will the Republican lawmakers from those states go to avoid voting on those maps? Texas is lovely in the summer.
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