Democratic voters drop their aversion to redistricting when it means fighting Republicans.
Democratic voters loathe partisan redistricting, but support California doing it to counter Texas, according to a new national poll on Gavin Newsom’s high-stakes gerrymander.
The POLITICO-UC Berkeley Citrin Center survey conducted by TrueDot found that 70 percent of Democrats believe gerrymandering is “never acceptable.” But a strong majority of Democratic voters across the country think California Democrats should “fight back” and create more favorable House districts if Texas Republicans do, embracing the exact idea likely to go before California voters.
“The real divide isn’t about whether it’s fair,” said Jon Cohen, founder and CEO of TrueDot. “The real divide is whether to fight fire with fire or hold the line on principle.”
The results presage a deeply partisan referendum on political power in the Trump era as the redistricting wars unfold. Democratic officials from former President Barack Obama to the party’s congressional leaders have united behind California’s bid to draw a map that imperils a half-dozen House GOP incumbents in next year’s midterm elections, saying they must respond in kind after President Donald Trump pushed Texas to boost Republicans and maintain the House majority.
As Texas Republicans move this week to craft new districts, California’s Democratic-dominated Legislature is expected to vote today to put a map that would help Democrats flip House seats on a Nov. 4 special election ballot for voter approval.