A key ingredient to the Republican party's continued liability is gerrymandering—the redrawing of political districts to practically ensure control for one party. The results often lead to ridiculous looking districts such as OH-9 and TX-2.
With the 2020 Census results now public knowledge, states across the nation are wrangling with how to redraw their districts in the face of changes in population. You can bet Republican officials are jumping at the chance to further entrench their voters in partisan maps.
Among those states redistricting is the swing state of Ohio.
In public comments to the Ohio Redistricting Commission, prominent Ohio Democrat David Pepper railed against the latest proposal, which would draw the state with 13 likely GOP districts and just two likely Democratic districts.
Watch below.
VIDEO: nothing better than speaking truth to power. \n\nHere\u2019s my testimony today explaining how the Ohio GOP\u2019s proposed 13-2 Congressional map egregiously violates the Constitution\u2014and represents THEIR fear of democracy. \n\n(They weren\u2019t pleased)pic.twitter.com/pfCNdCS51u— David Pepper (@David Pepper) 1636559332
Pepper told the commission:
"This map does not represent this community. ... This map represents the people who drew it and those who will support it. What it really represents, in this shape, is fear. Fear of voters. Fear of this community speaking with one voice. ... Fear of democracy. Fear of the voters of communities like Cincinnati. Fear is drawing these maps."
He particularly highlighted Republican Congressman Steve Chabot, who stands to majorly benefit from the current proposal:
"If the citizens of this community come together and speak as one, someone like a Chabot is all of a sudden having to fight for his seat. He may even lose that seat. That's what this shape represents."
People cheered Pepper's takedown.
This is brilliant. And absolutely on point. If voter districts were drawn to accurately reflect the voters that live in the communities, democracy wouldn't be on life support. Hyperbolic? I don't think so. https://t.co/4uNRfImukL
— LaffRiot 🌊🌊🌊 (@TerryPullBurd) November 11, 2021
Thank you David Pepper! You could NOT have said this any better. Please WATCH and SHARE this folks, David points out the cowardice and disdain for our democracy behind extremist gerrymanderinghttps://twitter.com/DavidPepper/status/1458461663846440961\u00a0\u2026— Cliff Schecter (@Cliff Schecter) 1636562284
Voters in Ohio standing up against gerrymandering & voter suppression. More of this please https://twitter.com/davidpepper/status/1458461663846440961\u00a0\u2026— Melyssa Rodriguez \u270d\ufe0f#HandMarkedPaperBallots (@Melyssa Rodriguez \u270d\ufe0f#HandMarkedPaperBallots) 1636666867
Call it out 🙏 https://t.co/zoLKWl1qpq
— Dimitri Wooldridge (@JovialCrow) November 11, 2021
David crushes it for all Ohioans.
🚨🚨🚨👇👇👇🚨🚨🚨 https://t.co/wKtDcYgIdN
— Shannon in Ohio 4 (@ShannonFreshour) November 10, 2021
Piling on here… he's right. https://t.co/H1KfJLNgiX
— Kathy Wyenandt (@kathywyenandt) November 10, 2021
After the onslaught of Republican voter suppression bills in after the 2020 election, voting rights are a major focus ahead of future elections.
With all due respect Senator, if you wanted to thank us for our service you would protect our voting rights. Yet, you won't even make time to meet with disabled AZ vets and your staff have been downright disrespectful. Take for instance our last interaction with your office.1/4 https://t.co/Gl8PT6ji7F
— Common Defense (@commondefense) November 11, 2021
North Carolina is 40% non-white & 50/50 politically but GOP passed redistricting maps giving white Republicans 71-78% of US House seats
This is what gerrymandering looks like under gutted Voting Rights Act & without federal protection for voting rights https://t.co/KTZE3comeg
— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) November 5, 2021
The greatest threat to our country remains Republican efforts to undermine voting rights and subvert election results. We are one, maybe two, elections away from a constitutional crisis.
— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) November 6, 2021
Hopefully people in power will follow Pepper's lead.
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