Cry more, MAGA

Virginia passed a constitutional amendment yesterday to allow the legislature to gerrymander the state to give Democrats a likely 10-1 Congressional delegation. Nothing is giving me more pleasure than watching Republicans cry about it being unfair. I’ve been listening to them defend egregious gerrymanders since 2011. Payback is hell.

The response from Republicans is what happens when you spend years lying to yourself and denying accountability. To hear them tell it, Democrats have made an unprecedented move to take control of the U.S. House of Representatives with an egregious gerrymander. It’s like nothing came before it.

Donald Trump started the Gerrymander Wars of 2026 when he demanded more GOP seats in states like Texas and North Carolina. Republicans got shocked and offended when Democrats retaliated. Nobody but the GOP thought mid-decade redistricting was a good idea. So cry more, MAGA.

I don’t like extreme gerrymandering, but I also don’t believe Democrats should unilaterally disarm. If Republicans are going to end competition and rig every district in states where they have the power to do so, Democrats should too. Last night, the GOP got a taste of its own medicine — and possibly more pain to come.

For almost two decades, progressives pushed a project to try to rectify gerrymandering with nonpartisan redistricting efforts. Several states, including some Republican-leaning ones, bought in, but the idea never caught on. Republicans countered with an initiative of their own — Project REDMAP, a push for extreme gerrymandering in states the GOP won in 2010.

Instead of moving toward more competition, Republicans’ success in redistricting has sharply reduced the number of competitive Congressional districts. In 2006, there were about 60 competitive races across the country. This year, at the same point in the redistricting cycle, there are fewer than 35. That’s not very democratic.

North Carolina has been at the center of the storm. Republicans made the case that partisan gerrymandering was fine when former Representative David Lewis infamously said, “I propose that we draw the maps to give a partisan advantage to 10 Republicans and three Democrats because I do not believe it’s possible to draw a map with 11 Republicans and two Democrats.” Republicans sued to keep their rigged maps and won at the Supreme Court. That ruling resulted in partisans rushing to press their advantage. Last night, we saw the result.

I suspect Democrats are going to win back the House regardless of whether the Virginia maps hold or not, but I’m just glad to see Democrats fighting back. Trump and the Republicans have launched a concerted and sustained assault on institutions that protect democracy. They’ve changed rules to do it and Democrats need to play by those rules until they can overhaul the game instead of trying to play by rules that are now obsolete.

Again, cry more. It makes me happy.