WASHINGTON — Extreme right-wing North Carolina Senator Bob Steinburg (SD-1) doubled down on gerrymandering in a Facebook Live video posted on Sunday, saying starting at 27:09 mark that if “conservatives, and you as conservatives, want to maintain control and drive the agenda” they must control the redistricting process next year. He went on to say that his goal was to draw congressional districts to send “Republican congressmen […] to help what we hope will be President Trump” (27:30).
The GOP has made it explicit — subverting democracy is one of their principal goals if they keep their majorities this November. Last week, Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle similarly detailed plans for gerrymandering Democrats out of power.
“Republicans don’t care about voters — they just care about holding on to their own power,” said Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Jessica Post. “In state after state, they depend on extreme partisan gerrymandering to keep voters from holding them accountable for their failed records. They will stop at nothing to win power, even if it means subverting our democracy.”
North Carolina is notoriously one of the country’s most gerrymandered states, and Republicans have repeatedly lost lawsuits over partisan gerrymandering this decade. In 2018, Democrats won the popular vote for both chambers of the state legislature, but only managed to break the GOP supermajority in the state. Democrats need to flip just five Senate seats to win control and fight for fair maps, since Governor Roy Cooper has no veto power over new districts.
Earlier this year, the DLCC announced its unprecedented $50 million “Flip Everything” campaign to win legislative majorities across the country. Since Trump’s election, the DLCC has flipped more than 450 seats and 10 chambers from red to blue.
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