GOP’s Redistricting Fight – Here’s How States Can Challenge Dems’ ‘Sue To Blue’ Strategy
Michael R. Pompeo & Chris Christie
Foxnews.com
September 20, 2021
The first eight months of the Biden administration have been a disaster for America. President Biden is dangerously incompetent, and Democrats in Washington (who have full control of our national government) will never hold Joe Biden accountable or bring a stop to his destructive impulses.
Few times in American history have we so desperately needed a check against a president like we do now. Americans will have our first real chance to stop Joe Biden’s agenda in the 2022 midterms, in less than 14 months, but Republicans must start building for that moment now.
That’s why we have become co-chairmen of the National Republican Redistricting Trust (NRRT). Redistricting – the once-a-decade job of drawing districts for Congress and state legislatures – will set the political battleground for the next 10 years and give Republicans a clear shot at taking back the U.S. House.
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Republicans last decade were disorganized and unprepared for Democrats’ sue-to-blue campaign. That’s why Republicans finally took action and in 2017 formed NRRT to be the GOP’s hub for coordinating a national redistricting strategy.
NRRT’s mission is to build a new, durable Republican majority, with districting maps that are legally constructed. We will do that by protecting vulnerable incumbents, expanding our offensive opportunities, and pursuing a two-pronged litigation strategy – to defend our redistricting successes and challenge illegal gerrymanders drawn by Democrats and redistricting commissions.
Democrats have already reopened their old playbook and gotten to work. Former Attorney General Eric Holder keeps saying he’s “fighting gerrymandering” and wants “fair maps,” but his organization’s mission has nothing to do with either. His group’s own tax forms say they exist to “favorably position Democrats” for redistricting. His organization claims to want more competitive districts, but that must only apply to red states.
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Their strategy has nothing to do with maximizing competitiveness or fighting gerrymandering. It is all about getting Democrats as many seats as possible.
For our Republican colleagues in the states here is our advice: Democrats are going to sue you no matter how many or how few Democrat-leaning seats you draw. You could hold 100 public hearings or zero public hearings and they’re still going to sue.
Instead of worrying about what Democrats will do, you should take the lead. Draw maps that follow the law, that will stand for a decade, and that achieve your objectives. And when Democrats inevitably sue, you will have put yourself in the strongest possible starting position to defend your maps and we will have your back.
Read the full op-ed HERE.