Skip to content
Project 2025
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories
Medicare Health Insurance Card. Social Security Card with Stethoscope and pen

Trump’s plan for Social Security risks undermining its future

Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs on stage

Luke Combs, politics and healing our nation's divide

AI Elon Musk wielding a gavel

Musk for speaker of the House? It’s not as crazy as it seems.

A fictional, fanciful sign depicts the results of voter suppression through the unfair, partisan manipulation of district lines (gerrymandering).

The worst congressional gerrymanders of the 2020s

Four men talking

A president, not a king

What’s the status of redistricting in your state?

Child coloring a map of the United States
Andy Sacks/Getty Images
David Meyers
By David MeyersMar 07, 2022
David Meyers

David Meyers is the Executive Editor of The Fulcrum. Before launching The Fulcrum, David spent more than two decades at CQ Roll Call, a leading publisher of political news and information. During his time there, David served as managing editor of Roll Call (“the newspaper of Capitol Hill”) and as managing editor of member information and research, which included co-editing the definitive biographical directory of Congress, “Politics in America.” David went on to lead all of CQ Roll Call’s congressional research teams as vice president of research and content development before shifting to a revenue and strategy role as vice president of business operations for Roll Call, working with the advertising and editorial teams to develop new revenue models and expand the company’s events business. David lives in Fairfax, Va., with his wife, two daughters and rottweiler. A graduate of Tufts University, David is a past president of the Tufts University Alumni Association. He is also a past president of the Washington Press Club Foundation, which works to celebrate and advance the role of women and minorities in the media. David currently serves on the board of directors for Temple B’nai Shalom in Fairfax Station.

See More Writings by author

Update: This story and the accompanying map were updated after the Supreme Court ruled Monday on congressional maps in North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

The decennial redistricting process began nearly a year ago, when the Census Bureau announced the reapportionment of congressional districts. Over the past 11 months three-quarters of the states have finished drawing congressional and state legislative districts, while the remaining states are still developing plans or have been delayed by legal challenges.

And the results, when reviewed by independent analysts for partisanship competitiveness and geographic consistency, have been a mixed bag.

Lawsuits over congressional districts are ongoing in eight states: Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas, although courts have allowed some of the maps to stand while awaiting further review. The Supreme Court on Monday directed North Carolina and Pennsylvania to moved forward with court-drawn maps that favor Democrats rather than the versions drawn by legislators to bolster Republicans. The Supreme Court recently allowed Alabama to proceed with its new congressional map pending while agreeing to hear arguments on its constitutionality. Opponents of the map claim it violates the Voting Rights Act by limiting the political voice of Black voters.

Florida, Louisiana, Missouri and New Hampshire have yet to approve final maps for congressional and legislative districts. Alabama, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Vermont and Wyoming also need to complete the legislative maps.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

While most states have some time to resolve their maps, Missouri is coming up on the March 29 filing deadline for candidates.

Made with Flourish

Three nonpartisan organizations — the Electoral Innovation Lab, the Princeton Gerrymandering Project and RepresentUs — have developed the Redistricting Report Card, which reviews congressional and legislative maps for partisan fairness, competitiveness and geography, in many cases offering grades to the states.

So far, they have awarded five A’s for congressional maps: Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, North Carolina and Virginia. At the other extreme, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Oregon and Texas have all received an F for their congressional maps.


Made with Flourish

Latest news

Read More

Rear view diverse voters waiting for polling place to open
SDI Productions/Getty Images

Open primary advocates must embrace the historic principles of change

This was a big year for the open primaries movement. Seven state-level campaigns and one municipal. Millions of voters declaring their support for open primaries. New leaders emerging across the country. Primary elections for the first time at the center of the national reform debate.

But with six out of eight campaigns failing at the ballot box, it’s also an important moment of reflection.

Keep ReadingShow less
"Vote Here" sign
Grace Cary/Getty Images

The path forward for electoral reform

The National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers hosted its post-election gathering Dec. 2-4 in San Diego. More than 120 leaders from across the country convened to reflect on the November elections, where reform campaigns achieved mixed results with multiple state losses, and to chart a path forward for nonpartisan electoral reforms. As the Bridge Alliance Education Fund is a founding member of NANR and I currently serve on the board, I attended the gathering in hopes of getting some insight on how we can best serve the collective needs of the electoral reform community in the coming year.

Keep ReadingShow less
Peopel waiting in line near a sign that reads "Vote Here: Polling Place"

People wait to vote in the 2024 election at city hall in Anchorage, Alaska.

Hasan Akbas/Anadolu via Getty Images

How Alaska is making government work again

At the end of a bitter and closely divided election season, there’s a genuine bright spot for democracy from our 49th state: Alaskans decided to keep the state’s system of open primaries and ranked choice voting because it is working.

This is good news not only for Alaska, but for all of us ready for a government that works together to get things done for voters.

Keep ReadingShow less
people voting
Getty Images

How to reform the political system to fight polarization and extremism

On Dec. 19, at 6 p.m., Elections Reform Now will present a webinar on “How to Reform the Political System to Combat Polarization and Extremism.”

In 2021, a group of the leading academics in the United States formed a task force to study the polarization of the American electorate and arrive at solutions to the dysfunction of our electoral system. They have now written a book, "Electoral Reform in the United States: Proposals for Combating Polarization and Extremism," published just this month.

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2024