On gerrymandering, North Carolina and Virginia are two sides of the same coin
For Democrats and Republicans, supporting gerrymandering or opposing it is a question of which side of the North Carolina-Virginia state line you’re on.
Recently, I took a break in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. It was beautiful and peaceful.
But as I crossed the state line from my home state of North Carolina into Virginia, I couldn’t help but be struck by the abrupt shift in political messaging.
The people here aren’t much different than they are in NC. They’re friendly. Jaded by politics and polarized. But on one critically important issue, Virginians and North Carolinians are reverse images of each other.
In rural Virginia, you can’t drive a mile or more right now without seeing some callout to Virginia’s April 21 special election, in which the voters will choose whether to give the state legislature the power to temporarily adopt new Congressional districts. That power will “restore fairness,” supporters say.
Put aside the political massaging though, and a "yes" vote will allow Democrats in Virginia to gerrymander Congressional districts and win more seats for their party. The point is to offset Republican gerrymandering ordered by President Trump in other states, including North Carolina.
What a difference a state line makes. In North Carolina, the parties are flipped.
Democrats are furious over the last 16 years of GOP gerrymandering, which started when Republicans took over the state legislature in 2010. For their part, Republicans had to overcome previous Democratic gerrymanders to win in 2010.
For Democrats and Republicans, supporting gerrymandering or opposing it is a question of which side of the North Carolina-Virginia state line you’re on.
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