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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIf Dems win house do dems get to set house district lines in 2020 after census?
If Dems win house do dems get to set house district lines in 2020 after census?
One of the reasons why dems have been having a hard time holding Benedict Donald responsible in congress is because of the digitally gerrymandered district seats; republicans don't have to care.
Does that change if dems win house tomorrow?
thx in advance
manor321
(3,344 posts)uponit7771
(90,335 posts)Ninga
(8,275 posts)greymattermom
(5,754 posts)So winning at the state level is critical.
WillowTree
(5,325 posts)beachbum bob
(10,437 posts)That is done in the states and why winning states is critical.
RockRaven
(14,966 posts)How exactly they are drawn and by who depends on the state.
MineralMan
(146,288 posts)to do that. In fact, you need to do that in the 2020 election, since the census isn't even reported until 2021. All district boundaries are determined by the states, not the federal government.
We blew it in 2010. Let's not do that again, shall we?
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)You and I have been screaming about this for eight friggin years.
MineralMan
(146,288 posts)what hope is there for the rest of the voters? By failing to understand the basics of how our system operates, people often approach things from the wrong directions.
Oddly enough, all of this was covered in the civics and government classes I had in high school. I remember it.
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)Civics in Public Schools,are the only ones that understand how Government Works,darn,remember back during Nixon's Rein of Terror,this was one of the Classes his Secretary of Ed oversaw it's demise. Then came Bennett under King Reagan killed off more of the Social Sciences to appease the so called Christian Soldiers.
MineralMan
(146,288 posts)when I was a kid. I remember mock elections and discussions about how voting worked. We learned about city and county government in the fourth grade, as I remember. We even had the Mayor of our little town come in and teach the class one day.
We also held school elections for class officers, beginning in the fourth grade and every year after that. Those elections were lessons in electoral politics, which were discussed every year in social studies classes, becoming more detailed with each passing year.
I remember watching both parties' conventions in 1956, when I was just 11 years old. I learned about the caucus system and a lot more, at home and at school during that year. Then, in 1960, I was already volunteering for the local Democratic Party by helping set up chairs for meetings and canvassing with an adult.
Political knowledge was valued in my school and community. I guess it's not that way anymore. More's the pity.
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)Governor teach Civics for a day in our little Village and that was part of a Wisconsin Public School education. The Governor traveled the State doing this for a couple of years,all about teaching how Government works.
MineralMan
(146,288 posts)We're losing our connection to our own system of government, and that's very sad.
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)and Council People that could fill this role. This came up at a meet and greet last Friday with Candidates. Couple of the Candidates were very receptive of this idea,and here is a reply I got from a campaign Aide. To many of these folks expect some type of fee or freebe. Especially in Major Metro Areas.
Sad!
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,335 posts)GOPers hate education. Have they managed to eliminate civics and government classes from schools?
MineralMan
(146,288 posts)50s and 60s. I'll admit that most kids back then didn't pay much attention to it, but some of us did. Here's a link with some information on the state of things:
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-k-12/reports/2018/02/21/446857/state-civics-education/
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,335 posts)I think I still have my old textbooks around here. Might be a tad outdated.
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)Complaining that democratic leaders had not done enough, even after those leaders passed historic legistlation and had started to cleanup the fuckup Bush left. Some on the left wanted to see Wall Street Execs frogmarched off to jail and nothing short of that was sufficient for them. Ed Schultz and Genk of the Young Turks were pounding democrats daily and telling people not to vote, look at what that got us.
MineralMan
(146,288 posts)And many people stayed home. Republicans got control of the Minnesota state legislature that year, and Republicans won many House seats. I hope we learned something. Truly I do.
It was a low point in Democratic politics, I think. It hurt us badly.
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)We saw the near jihads against Joe Manchin and Heidi Heitkamp here from some on DU. They don't realize that politicians get elected by the people of their state and that ANY democrat with a pulse is certainly going to be better than a republican.
MineralMan
(146,288 posts)However, some of it is deliberate sabotage, unfortunately. Trouble is, it's hard to tell who's doing what, sometimes.
After 2016, some folks left DU. There's a lot less of that sort of thing going on here now. That's instructive.
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)24/7 attacks on democratic politicians, not a single peep about republicans. And some people here fell for that.
vi5
(13,305 posts)Actually have the stones to do what is needed to counteract and reverse years and years of gerrymandering and voter suppressions efforts at the state level.
Honestly as much as I want us to win the house, I want us to win state houses just as much.
David__77
(23,372 posts)And they should do so.
How they'll do so is through capturing legislatures and governorships.
TheRealNorth
(9,478 posts)As others said, the States draw the congressional boundaries. But they also draw the state legislator boundaries, which is why several Midwest states have huge Republican majorities in the state legislators despite the vote being 50/50 or better for the Dems.
Best hope is to win governorship so that any maps drawn can be vetoed by the governor and then they would go to the courts (not sure if they would go to the state or federal courts). My guess is that they would go to the state courts, which is another reason to take state supreme court races (if they are elected in your state) seriously as well.
meow2u3
(24,761 posts)or the people have to push for a referendum to appoint nonpartisan commissions for the purpose of redistricting.
EffieBlack
(14,249 posts)That's why it's important to support Democrats all the way down the ticket.
And why it was so foolish for Democrats to stand down in 2010.
Blue_true
(31,261 posts)The lines set after the 2010 election will be used for 2020 unless a Court has or does overturn them and force them to be redrawn (Pennsylvania being the most outstanding case).
brooklynite
(94,518 posts)For background, look up NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC REDISTRICTING COMMITTEE
aeromanKC
(3,322 posts)Many of which are in the Rust belt. Hopefully they will also have some coattails down ballot!!