Democratic Redistricting Committee Launched to Fight GOP Control in States

The goal of the project is to position Democrats to win House majorities in Congresses elected after 2020" which should be doable. Its a commendable initiative.

Clearly there is not enough being done to challenge Republican gerrymandering since Republicans now have trifecta" control the governorships and majorities in both state senate and house in 25 states compared to just 6 for Democrats. According to the NDRCs web page:

The NDRC will target races in every election cycle through 2020 including gubernatorial state legislative and ballot initiative campaigns where Democrats can produce fairer electoral maps in 2021.

Holder (right) highlighted these major focal points in a speech at the Center for American Progress Action Fund including:

1. ELECTORAL The NDRC will coordinate and support the critical state-based electoral work led by the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee and Democratic Governors Association to identify and invest in key down-ballot races with redistricting implications.

2. LEGAL The NDRC ensures that ongoing infrastructure is in place and adequately resourced to guide a proactive legal strategy using data technical and map drawing resources.

3. BALLOT INITIATIVE The NDRC will support state ballot reforms where this is the best strategy to produce fairer maps.

The NDRC will have the active support of President Obama after his term expires. The hope is that his fund-raising cred can be leveraged to help finance promising Democratic candidates as well as the organizations projects.

Former Presidents Carter and Clinton have done great work as ex-presidents and President Obama could also make a tremendous difference for the better after his presidency by empowering the NDRC to achieve its goals. Schneider explains further

The top of the NRDCs priority list Holder said is simply winning state legislatures and governorships. Holder noted that three dozen upcoming gubernatorial races in 2017 and 2018 offer a direct path to affecting redistricting in many states. Holder also noted that other less-noticed statewide officeholders such as secretaries of state are positioned to affect the redistricting process in certain states. Four of the nine House seats gained by Democrats this year were a result from new maps that came from redistricting cases in Florida and Virginia" Holder said. The NDRC is poised to seize on these early gains by advancing a very aggressive legal strategy."

Over the years Democrats have benefited from the leadership development programs of both partisan and nonpartisan organizations like Emilys List the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation the Center for American Women in Politics Emerge America the Latino Victory Project and the National Democratic Training Committee. ActBlue is helping more than 1800 state and local Democratic candidates and campaigns at the grass roots level. But all of these groups together likely have but a fraction of the economic resources Republican candidates and political groups receive from their corporate and wealthy contributors. The NDRC will bring long-overdue attention to the urgency of Democrats mobilizing to challenge Republican gerrymandering and provide resources needed to make Democrats more competitive in the states.

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