(Letter to the Editor - Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

TV news is reporting how Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the Republicans in the Texas legislature are seeking to subvert our democracy by redrawing congressional lines in Texas’ 38 congressional districts, giving Republicans five more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives — a practice called gerrymandering. From the fake news coverage, one would think this had never been done before.

A dirty little secret the Democrats and the fake news don’t want Americans knowing is “blue” state governors and legislatures have gerrymandered their states’ congressional districts for decades to give Democrats a majority in the U.S. Congress. It is they that perfected gerrymandering. Texas is just stepping up and playing by the same (redistricting) rules as “blue” states.

One hundred Democrats in the Texas legislature have fled from their state to “blue” states to deny Republican legislators the quorum needed to enact their proposed redistricting legislation. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Illinois Gov. J.D. Pritzker, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, among other Democratic governors, are feigning outrage at Texas Gov. Abbott for his proposed gerrymandering and are threatening to further gerrymander their own states to counter Texas gerrymandering efforts. Is this possible?

In New York, during the 2024 election, 43% of New Yorkers voted Republican, but of the state’s 26 congressional seats only 7 are Republican.

In Illinois, during the 2024 elections, 43% of Illinois population voted Republican. Out of Illinois’ 17 congressional districts, only three are held by Republicans.

In California, during the 2024 election, Republicans had 38% of the popular vote, but out of California’s 52 congressional districts, only nine are held by Republicans.

Maine is the most outrageously gerrymandered state in the union. In the 2024 election, 36% of the population voted Republican. Yet out of their 9 congressional districts, all nine are held by Democrats and none, zero, by Republicans.

Other “blue” states are similarly gerrymandered to favor Democrats. Texas redistricting is being done to off-set the gerrymandering and advantage “blue” states have been giving Democrats in Congress for decades.

If Texas is successful in their redistricting, Ohio, Florida and “red” states may follow suit and there are more “red” states than “blue” states.

Ideally, all states “red or “blue” would apportion their districts reflecting their voters’ political affiliations, but since the U.S. Constitution, Amendment 10, grants congressional districting to individual states, it won’t happen without a constitutional amendment, a fair congressional districting amendment.

Steve Wolverton

Parkersburg