“How the Suburbs Have Changed Gerrymandering”

Maggie Astor, N.Y. Times, writes that “Republican gerrymandering efforts used to focus mainly on diluting the influence of cities,” but this cycle the focus is also on cracking the political power of the suburbs. The article notes, further, that many of the targeted suburbs are multiracial communities.

“What’s striking is how thoroughly the shifting demographics of the suburbs have changed the task for mapmakers: The suburbs, historically used by Republicans to defend against the electoral threat of cities, are now themselves a threat.

. . . ‘You’re really starting to see the emergence of a new multiracial America, the politics of the future,” [Michael] Li, of the Brennan Center for Justice, said. “And instead of deciding to compete for that future, Republicans have decided to kick the can down the road and try to gerrymander their way out of their problem.’

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