Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Redistricting cycle nears completion, but work remains to be done in 4 states

New Hampshire redistricting

New Hampshire is one of two states yet to pass a congressional map.

dk_photos/Getty Images

  • Update: The New York Court of Appeals threw out the state's new congressional map on Wednesday afternoon and ordered a new map to be drawn by a special master. The primary will be delayed.

After Florida enacted a new, controversial congressional map late last week, just two states have yet to complete the redistricting process, although courts have thrown out approved maps in two other states and additional lawsuits are pending around the country.

Legislators in Missouri and New Hampshire have yet to pass new maps to be used for the next decade – even though Republicans control both chambers of the legislature and the governor’s mansion in each state. And a key deadline has already passed in Missouri.

Meanwhile, courts have struck down congressional maps in Kansas and New York.


Unfinished business

While Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made national headlines by asserting his authority over the redistricting process, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu did the same thing in March but drew far less attention. Perhaps that’s because there is less at stake in New Hampshire (which has two districts split between the parties) than Florida (where DeSantis engineered a map that likely swings four additional seats to the Republican ledger).

Sununu threatened to veto a map approved by the legislature in March and offered his own version that he said would make both districts more competitive. On Tuesday, Republican lawmakers presented a new map that adheres more closely to the original version than Sununu’s proposal, drawing renewed criticism from the governor.

The governor and legislators have until late May to work out a compromise. If they do not, the state Supreme Court will appoint a special master to draw a final map.

The deadline for candidates to file to run in the state is June 10. The primary will be held Sept. 13.

Republicans are at a similar impasse in Missouri, where the chambers have been unable to agree on how big an advantage to give their party for the next decade.

The congressional delegation is currently split 6-2 in favor of the GOP, and the first map passed by the state House in January would have maintained that margin. However, the Senate pushed back and wants to move another seat into the Republican column.

After rounds of negotiations, the Senate passed a new map in late March but the House would not approve it and now the two chambers cannot agree to schedule a conference committee to work out the differences.

The filing deadline was March 29 and the primary is scheduled for July 6. Barring a quick resolution, lawsuits seem likely.

Back to the drawing board

Democratic-controlled New York seemed to have finished its congressional redistricting process Feb. 3, when Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the new map into law. That map was drawn by legislators after a redistricting commission designed to remove elected officials from the process broke down under the weight of partisan fighting.

But two courts determined that the map, which would increase the Democrats’ margin of control in the delegation, is an illegal partisan gerrymander. The state Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on the case Tuesday and could rule this week on whether to reinstate the approved map or to require new lines be drawn.

Three alternative maps have already been submitted – one by the Republican plaintiffs, another from a New York nonprofit and a third by a lawyer.

The candidate filing deadline has already passed (April 7) and the primary is scheduled for June 28.

The new congressional map has also been overturned in Kansas, where a county judge ruled on Monday that the Republican-approved map is unfair to Democrats and people of color and therefore violates the state Constitution. The map, if allowed to stand, would likely increase the GOP’s chances of winning the sole district currently controlled by Democrats.

While the court has ordered legislators to draw a new map, the state attorney general has vowed to appeal the ruling.

The candidate filing deadline is June 1 for the Aug. 2 primary.

Additional lawsuits

On Friday, DeSantis signed the bill to make his congressional map official. That same day, a collection of voting rights organizations and individual voters filed a lawsuit claiming the new district lines violate the state Constitution.

In 2010, Florida voters approved a “Fair District” amendment that empowers minority voters to be able to select their representatives. DeSantis’ map breaks up a district currently represented by Rep. Al Lawson, a Black Democrat. The plaintiffs also argue the map violates state prohibitions on partisan gerrymandering.

A lawsuit is also pending in Ohio, where Democrats are fighting a Republican-approved map. However, that case will not be heard in time to affect the 2022 elections.

A Republican-led lawsuit in New Mexico has become stalled, and a lawyer for the state party recently asked for a judge to be appointed so it can move forward.

The Loyola Law School is tracking these and other lawsuits.

Read More

Connecticut: Democracy, Innovation, and Economic Resilience

The 50: Connecticut

Credit: Hugo Balta

Connecticut: Democracy, Innovation, and Economic Resilience

The 50 is a four-year multimedia project in which the Fulcrum visits different communities across all 50 states to learn what motivated them to vote in the 2024 presidential election and see how the Donald Trump administration is meeting those concerns and hopes.

Hartford, Connecticut, stands as a living testament to American democracy, ingenuity, and resilience. As the state’s capital, it’s home to cultural landmarks like the Mark Twain House & Museum, where Twain penned The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, embodying the spirit of self-governance and creative daring that defines the region.

Keep ReadingShow less
Hand blocking someone speaking

The Third Way has recently released a memo stating that the “stampede away from the Democratic Party” is partly a result of the language and rhetoric it uses.

Westend61/Getty Images

To Protect Democracy, Democrats Should Pay Attention to the Third Way’s List of ‘Offensive’ Words

More than fifty years ago, comedian George Carlin delivered a monologue entitled Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television.” It was a tribute to the legendary Lenny Bruce, whose “nine dirty words” performance led to his arrest and his banning from many places.

His seven words were “p—, f—, c—, c———, m———–, and t—.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Fox News’ Selective Silence: How Trump’s Worst Moments Vanish From Coverage
Why Fox News’ settlement with Dominion Voting Systems is good news for all media outlets
Getty Images

Fox News’ Selective Silence: How Trump’s Worst Moments Vanish From Coverage

Last week, the ultraconservative news outlet, NewsMax, reached a $73 million settlement with the voting machine company, Dominion, in essence, admitting that they lied in their reporting about the use of their voting machines to “rig” or distort the 2020 presidential election. Not exactly shocking news, since five years later, there is no credible evidence to suggest any malfeasance regarding the 2020 election. To viewers of conservative media, such as Fox News, this might have shaken a fully embraced conspiracy theory. Except it didn’t, because those viewers haven’t seen it.

Many people have a hard time understanding why Trump enjoys so much support, given his outrageous statements and damaging public policy pursuits. Part of the answer is due to Fox News’ apparent censoring of stories that might be deemed negative to Trump. During the past five years, I’ve tracked dozens of examples of news stories that cast Donald Trump in a negative light, including statements by Trump himself, which would make a rational person cringe. Yet, Fox News has methodically censored these stories, only conveying rosy news that draws its top ratings.

Keep ReadingShow less
U.S. Flag / artificial intelligence / technology / congress / ai

The age of AI warrants asking if the means still further the ends—specifically, individual liberty and collective prosperity.

Getty Images, Douglas Rissing

Liberty and the General Welfare in the Age of AI

If the means justify the ends, we’d still be operating under the Articles of Confederation. The Founders understood that the means—the governmental structure itself—must always serve the ends of liberty and prosperity. When the means no longer served those ends, they experimented with yet another design for their government—they did expect it to be the last.

The age of AI warrants asking if the means still further the ends—specifically, individual liberty and collective prosperity. Both of those goals were top of mind for early Americans. They demanded the Bill of Rights to protect the former, and they identified the latter—namely, the general welfare—as the animating purpose for the government. Both of those goals are being challenged by constitutional doctrines that do not align with AI development or even undermine it. A full review of those doctrines could fill a book (and perhaps one day it will). For now, however, I’m just going to raise two.

Keep ReadingShow less