Redistricting

Shawn Terry, a Democratic candidate for the state legislature in Texas, meets with supporters during a campaign event in Dallas on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019. Terry has already raised $235,000 as Democratic donors pour money into legislative races nationwide in hopes of flipping statehouse chambers in 2020. (AP Photo/Paul J. Weber)
August 20, 2019 - 10:53 am

Democrats spending millions to try to take back statehouses

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Democrats still shaken by the 2010 tea party wave that netted Republicans six governors' offices, flipped 21 statehouse chambers and drove nearly 700 Democratic state legislators from office are mounting a comeback, pouring millions of dollars into state level races. In a...
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July 30, 2019 - 4:22 pm

Michigan Republicans sue to block redistricting commission

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Republicans sued Tuesday to block the creation of Michigan's new, voter-approved redistricting commission, challenging eligibility guidelines that prohibit politicians and others from serving on the panel. The lawsuit, filed in federal court and praised by a national GOP group...
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July 26, 2019 - 2:41 pm

N Carolina trial into partisan gerrymandering wrapping up

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A three-judge North Carolina panel was considering Friday whether politicians can be too extreme in drawing legislative voting districts to their advantage, a judgment the U.S. Supreme Court refused to make about congressional elections. The judges start deliberating at the end...
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In this Aug. 13, 2001, file frame from video provided by C-SPAN, Tom Hofeller speaks during an event at the Republican National Committee in Washington. Hofeller, a mastermind of GOP redistricting preached keeping electronic records secure. But after his death in 2018, his own files found their way to the heart of lawsuits over a U.S. census question on citizenship and North Carolina’s legislative redistricting. (C-SPAN via AP)
July 02, 2019 - 6:31 pm

Files from dead mapmaker focus of NC redistricting hearing

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Documents recovered from the house of a deceased Republican mapmaker that are part of a partisan gerrymandering lawsuit in North Carolina shouldn't be used in this month's scheduled trial because there's no way to authenticate them, GOP lawyers said Tuesday. The files linked to...
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In this Aug. 13, 2001, file frame from video provided by C-SPAN, Tom Hofeller speaks during an event at the Republican National Committee in Washington. Hofeller, a mastermind of GOP redistricting preached keeping electronic records secure. But after his death in 2018, his own files found their way to the heart of lawsuits over a U.S. census question on citizenship and North Carolina’s legislative redistricting. (C-SPAN via AP)
June 28, 2019 - 4:38 pm

Gerrymandering architect's files figure in census, map cases

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — During his long career drawing legislative maps designed to help Republicans, Tom Hofeller preached about the dangers of leaving digital fingerprints. As he advised in a 2011 presentation about redistricting strategies: "Make sure your computer is in a PRIVATE location," and "...
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FILE - In this April 1, 2019, file photo, Mindy Nagel poses for a photograph at the threshold of her home in Cincinnati. Nagel's home is split by two House districts. The Supreme Court said, by a 5-4 vote on Thursday, June 27, 2019, that claims of partisan gerrymandering do not belong in federal court. The court's conservative, Republican-appointed majority says that voters and elected officials should be the arbiters of what is a political dispute The decision effectively reverses the outcome of rulings in Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina and Ohio, where courts had ordered new maps drawn. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
June 28, 2019 - 12:09 am

High court's ruling shifts gerrymandering focus to states

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The battle for political advantage in state capitols is poised to become more intense after the U.S. Supreme Court decision declaring that federal judges have no role in settling disputes over partisan gerrymandering. Thursday's ruling could empower Republicans and...
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Demonstrators gather at the Supreme Court as the justices finish the term with key decisions on gerrymandering and a census case involving an attempt by the Trump administration to ask everyone about their citizenship status in the 2020 census, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 27, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
June 27, 2019 - 7:49 pm

Court decision could set up fights over race gerrymandering

WASHINGTON (AP) — When North Carolina drew its most recent political maps, state leaders split a historically black university in Greensboro into two congressional districts that critics say diluted the voting power of African Americans on campus. Lawmakers defended it as partisan gerrymandering —...
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A view of the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday, March 15, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
June 27, 2019 - 11:50 am

Justices deal blow to effort to limit partisan districts

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court dealt a huge blow to efforts to combat the drawing of electoral districts for partisan gain on Thursday in a ruling that could embolden political line-drawing after the 2020 census. On the court's final day of decisions before a summer break, the conservative...
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FILE - In this June 20, 2019 file photo, the Supreme Court is seen under stormy skies in Washington. Two issues that could determine the distribution of political power for the next decade await resolution on the Supreme Court's final day of decisions before a long summer break. Chief Justice John Roberts could well be the author of decisions on both politically charged topics Thursday, June 27, whether to allow a citizenship question on the 2020 census and place limits on drawing electoral districts for partisan gain. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
June 27, 2019 - 11:23 am

Supreme Court allows partisan districts, blocks census query

WASHINGTON (AP) — In two politically charged rulings, the Supreme Court dealt a huge blow Thursday to efforts to combat the drawing of electoral districts for partisan gain and put a hold on the Trump administration's effort to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. On the court's final day...
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The Supreme Court is seen under stormy skies in Washington, Thursday, June 20, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
June 27, 2019 - 10:14 am

The Latest: Supreme Court decision could reshape US politics

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the Supreme Court's final day before its summer break (all times local): 10:10 a.m. The Supreme Court says federal courts have no role to play in policing political districts drawn for partisan gain. The decision could embolden political line-drawing for partisan...
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