\n<\/p>\n
This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.<\/p>\n
Texas Republicans are planning to redraw their congressional districts this year, five years ahead of schedule. As with most other recent examples of norm-breaking behavior in American politics, the reason for this involves Donald J. Trump.<\/p>\n
Earlier this summer, the president asked Texas Governor Greg Abbott to dabble in a little gerrymandering to produce five more Republican-leaning districts in his state ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. In July, Abbott answered the call, summoning state lawmakers back to Austin for a 30-day special session, in part to begin working on a new district map. (The Texas legislature is in session only once every other year.) The state has been holding public hearings about the redistricting plan; this morning, state lawmakers released a proposed new map that could give the GOP 30 of the state\u2019s 38 House seats and help pad the party\u2019s slim majority.<\/p>\n
Not much appears to prevent Texas Republicans from doing this. States typically redraw their congressional districts every 10 years, after a new census is conducted. But the Texas GOP has gone off schedule before, way back in 2003, and the Supreme Court later ruled that the Constitution doesn\u2019t prohibit mid-decade redistricting. There\u2019s been plenty of resistance from Texas voters, who\u2019ve filled public-hearing rooms in protest, and from high-profile politicians, who\u2019ve appeared at rallies and raised money to fight the new map. The state\u2019s Democrats might consider breaking quorum, like they did in 2021 to block a vote on the issue, but GOP lawmakers probably have the leverage to force them back to the table. So far, things are going according to plan for Texas Republicans. They have the votes, and at least right now, they seem to have the political will.<\/p>\n
But just as important as whether Texas Republicans follow through with redistricting is how Democrats will respond. A gerrymandering war, in other words, could be on the way. \u201cWe\u2019re saying to the Texans, \u2018You shouldn\u2019t be going down this path,\u2019\u201d former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said last week. \u201cYou want to go down this path? We\u2019ll go down together.\u201d The governors (and wannabe presidential contenders) Gavin Newsom of California and J. B. Pritzker of Illinois both suggested that they will consider redrawing their own state\u2019s districts to favor\u2014or further favor\u2014Democrats. Similar efforts are being considered in New York and Maryland too.<\/p>\n
Many experts\u2014and Democrats themselves\u2014have long argued that partisan gerrymandering is undemocratic and unfair. Their embrace of a gerrymandering tit for tat would reflect a new mindset that many Democrats have adopted in the second Trump era: that they should be just as politically ruthless as Republicans\u2014and when the GOP goes low, the Democrats should meet them there.<\/p>\n
But two questions complicate this approach. The first is a logistical one: Can Democrats even do what they\u2019re threatening to? \u201cIt\u2019s a state-by-state determination,\u201d the election-law expert David Becker told me. Some states, such as California and New York, have independent redistricting commissions, which means that any attempt at partisan gerrymandering would require turning that power back over to politicians\u2014a complicated and slow process. Other states, such as Illinois and Maryland, have laws allowing for a little more flexibility when redrawing maps.<\/p>\n
The other, more pressing question for Democrats is whether they should. They certainly may feel inclined to match the GOP\u2019s aggressive tactics, but extreme partisan gerrymandering carries a certain amount of risk, one that Texas Republicans would be undertaking, Becker said. To maximize Republican wins in more districts overall, they might have to reduce their margins in others, making some of those new districts vulnerable in a potential blue-wave election.<\/p>\n
All this partisan maneuvering is arguably a race to the bottom. Imagine a future in which every two years, states redraw their congressional maps: Voters would find themselves in a new district several times each decade, unable to get to know the people who are supposed to represent them. \u201cThis would do incredible damage to faith in institutions\u201d and add to the cynicism that so many Americans already feel about politics, Dan Vicu\u00f1a, a senior policy director at Common Cause, told me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere appears to be a temptation to meet attacks on democracy with more attacks on democracy,\u201d Vicu\u00f1a added. It\u2019s up to Democrats to decide if they\u2019ll resist the urge.<\/p>\n
Related:<\/p>\n
\nHere are three new stories from The Atlantic:<\/strong><\/p>\n Today\u2019s News<\/p>\n Evening Read<\/strong><\/p>\n Illustration by Ben Denzer<\/p>\n A Love Letter to Music Listings<\/p>\n By Gabriel Kahane<\/p>\n About a year and a half ago, I was scheduled to play a concert in Vermont when word came that the gig would be canceled because of an approaching nor\u2019easter. I checked out of the hotel early, lobbed my suitcase into the rental car, and hightailed it to New York as menacing clouds darkened the rearview mirror. Brooklyn had been home for the better part of two decades, but after a move to the Pacific Northwest, I was returning as a tourist, and the show\u2019s cancellation augured a rare free evening in the city. There was just one problem: How was I going to figure out what to do with my night on the town?<\/p>\n This used to be easy.<\/p>\n Read the full article.<\/p>\n More From The Atlantic<\/em><\/p>\n Culture Break<\/p>\n Ross Harried \/ NurPhoto \/ Getty<\/p>\n Read. \u201cPreamble to the West,\u201d a poem by Iris Jamahl Dunkle:<\/p>\n \u201cCan\u2019t lick the witch wind that carries rumors \/ over shining aurora-lit prairies: \/ horror of what comes to light at the dawn \/ of the mind.\u201d<\/p>\n Take a look. These photos capture Gu\u00e9delon Castle, in France, where builders use 13th-century techniques to re-create medieval craftsmanship.<\/p>\n Play our daily crossword.<\/p>\n P.S.<\/p>\n Lots of you responded to last week\u2019s newsletter about finding simple moments of joy in your daily life, and I\u2019ve loved reading your answers. I\u2019ll share two of my favorites here, as a bit of a prelude to a forthcoming, small-delights-focused issue of the Daily.<\/p>\n Eric wrote in to say that he was inspired by the 2023 movie Perfect Days (which I need to watch!) and is now trying to incorporate a simple, daily gesture into his life: \u201cWhen I walk out my door to go to work, I try to remember to just stop, stand, look at my neighborhood and the sky, and smile\u2014it may take only 10 seconds, but it begins the public version of my life on the right foot.\u201d Another idea I liked, from Sarah, is buying one new thing at the grocery store every time you visit: \u201cIt\u2019s a mini flavor adventure every trip, whether it turns out I\u2019d buy that thing again or not.\u201d<\/p>\n Stay tuned: More tips coming soon!<\/p>\n \u2014 Elaine<\/p>\n Rafaela Jinich contributed to this newsletter.<\/p>\n Explore all of our newsletters here.<\/em><\/p>\n When you buy a book using a link in this newsletter, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting <\/em>The Atlantic.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. Texas Republicans are planning to redraw their congressional districts this year, five years ahead of schedule. As with most<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13181,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[1378,2415,1913,6875,4627],"class_list":{"0":"post-13180","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-social-issues","8":"tag-americas","9":"tag-map","10":"tag-political","11":"tag-redraw","12":"tag-republicans"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13180\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n