The Personal Website of Mark W. Dawson

Gerrymandering in Modern America

Gerrymandering in the United States is the practice of setting boundaries of electoral districts to favor specific political interests within legislative bodies, often resulting in districts with convoluted, winding boundaries rather than compact areas. The term "gerrymandering" was coined after a review of Massachusetts's redistricting maps of 1812, set by Governor Elbridge Gerry, who noted that one of the districts looked like a mythical salamander. I would also mention that Gerrymandering is not limited to America, as all representative democracies that have election districts are subject to Gerrymandering.

When it comes to the obtainment and retention of political power, you can always expect that Gerrymandering will be one of the tools that will be utilized. Sometimes the Gerrymandering is modest, but most times it is egregious. It is only illegal if it is done for discriminatory (other than political) purposes. As a result, the current Congressional map is as follows:

The numbers and statistics behind the map can be difficult (and often boring) to understand, and when you apply statistics to these numbers, they can be confusing and misleading, as I have written in my article "Oh What A Tangled Web We Weave". But numbers and statistics are the only way to grasp the effects of Gerrymandering. To ease the understanding, I have extracted some numbers and statistics that may help in understanding the impacts of Gerrymandering, starting with States that have zero Representatives from one party or the other (sources: Congress Party Breakdown, Voter Registration, 2024 Election Results by State):

States with ZERO Republican House seats (Dem-Rep) with Voter Registration, Voter Party Demographics (D-Democrats, R-Republicans, O-Third Party/Other, U-Unaffiliated), and 2024 Presidential election results:

Connecticut	5-0	2,317,657	D-36.12%, R-20.30%, O-1.55%, U-42.02% Harris-56.4%, Trump-41.9%
Delaware	1-0	732,688	D-45.05%, R-26.49%, O-2.40%, U-26.06% Harris-56.6%, Trump-41.9%
Hawaii	2-0	851,372	D-34.59%, R-18.43%, O-3.85%, U-43.13% Harris-60.6%, Trump-37.5%
Maine	2-0	1,061,816	Harris-52.4%, Trump-45.5%D-34.53%, R-29.21%, O-4.28%, U-31.97%
Massachusetts	9-0	4,812,739	D-33.03%, R-12.39%, O-2.69%, U-51.89% Harris-61.6%, Trump-36.2%
New Hampshire	2-0	1,142,747	D-32.73%, R-28.18%, O-2.17%, U-36.92% Harris-50.9%, Trump-48.1%
New Mexico	3-0	1,353,748	D-39.95%, R-30.31%, O-2.80%, U-26.94% Harris-51.9%, Trump-45.9%
Rhode Island	2-0	791,129	D-43.25%, R-17.68%, O-1.49%, U-37.58% Harris-55.8%, Trump-42.0%
Vermont	1-0	466,789	D-53.29%, R-20.56%, O-0.00%, U-26.15% Harris-64.4%, Trump-32.6%

States with ZERO Democrat House seats (Dem-Rep) with Voter Registration, Voter Party Demographics (D-Democrats, R-Republicans, O-Third Party/Other, U-Unaffiliated), and 2024 Presidential election results:

Alaska	0-1	572,651	D-12.15%, R-23.27%, O-5.14%, U-59.44% Harris-41.4%, Trump-54.5%
Arkansas	0-4	1,586,563	D-22.08%, R-37.40%, O-0.05%, U-40.46% Harris-33.6%, Trump-64.2%
Idaho	0-2	1,126,982	D-12.22%, R-45.19%, O-6.32%, U-36.27% Harris-30.4%, Trump-66.9%
Iowa	0-4	2,243,688	D-29.20%, R-32.40%, O-2.84%, U-35.56% Harris-42.7%, Trump-56.0%
Montana	0-2	831,569	D-24.89%, R-52.85%, O-5.18%, U-17.08% Harris-38.5%, Trump-58.4%
Nebraska	0-3	1,262,051	D-28.38%, R-48.92%, O-3.47%, U-19.23% Harris-39.1%, Trump-59.6%
North Dakota	0-1	96,885	D-23.72%, R-50.46%, O-15.49%, U-10.33% Harris-30.8%, Trump-67.5%
Oklahoma	0-5	2,297,272	D-31.51%, R-44.68%, O-2.21%, U-21.59% Harris-31.9%, Trump-66.2%
South Dakota	0-1	592,888	D-28.86%, R-51.98%, O-5.94%, U-13.21% Harris-34.2%, Trump-63.4%
Utah	0-4	1,590,348	D-13.59%, R-51.83%, O-6.09%, U-28.49% Harris-37.8%, Trump-59.4%
West Virginia	0-2	1,098,150	D-30.51%, R-40.56%, O-4.45%, U-24.48% Harris-28.1%, Trump-70.0%
Wyoming	0-1	298,062	D-11.98%, R-77.37%, O-1.06%, U-9.60% Harris-26.1%, Trump-72.3%

The next table is of the larger (by voter registration) States that have disproportionate Democrat/Republican Representatives based on Voter Registration Demographics (D-Democrats, R-Republicans, O-Third Party/Other, U-Unaffiliated), and 2024 Presidential election results:

California	43-9 D-83% R-17%	22,638,740	D-45.83%, R-24.87%, O-6.80%, U-22.50% Harris-58.5%, Trump-38.3%
Florida	8-20 D-28% R-72%	14,798,238	D-32.60%, R-37.16%, O-2.62%, U-27.63% Harris-43.0%, Trump-56.1%
Illinois	14-3 D-82% R-18%	8,005,217	D-34.52%, R-27.05%, O-6.08%, U-32.35%??? Harris-54.8%, Trump-43.8%
Maryland	7-1 D-87% R-13%	4,047,944	D-50.22%, R-25.61%, O-1.87%, U-22.29% Harris-63.1%, Trump-34.3%
Massachusetts	9-0 D-100% R-00%	4,812,739	D-33.03%, R-12.39%, O-2.69%, U-51.89% Harris-61.6%, Trump-36.2%
Michigan	2-0 D-100% R-00%	8,257,230	D-25.21%, R-20.50%, O-0.01%, U-54.28% Harris-48.3%%, Trump-49.7%
New Jersey	9-3 D-75% R-25%	6,643,654	D-40.99%, R-30.37%, O-2.36%, U-26.28% Harris-52.0%, Trump-46.1%
New York	19-7 D-73% R-27%	13,623,009	D-52.34%, R-28.26%, O-0.00%, U-19.40% Harris-56.3%, Trump-43.7%
Ohio	5-10 D-33% R-67%	8,136,887	D-36.02%, R-37.32%, O-3.03%, U-23.63% Harris-44.0%, Trump-55.2%
Oregon	5-1 D-83% R-17%	3,339,979	D-31.71%, R-23.57%, O-6.75%, U-38.00% Harris-55.6%, Trump-41.2%
Texas	4-14 D-22% R-78%	17,323,617	D-46.50%, R-37.95%, O-0.00%, U-15.55% Harris-42.5%, Trump-56.2%
Washington	8-2 D-80% R-20%	5,084,510	D-52.34%, R-28.26%, O-0.00%, U-19.40% Harris-57.6%, Trump-39.3%
Wisconsin	6-2 D-75% R-25%	4,757,255	D-31.78%, R-38.31%, O-0.00%, U-29.91% Harris-48.9%, Trump-49.7%

In the smaller populated State with a zero representation of one party or the other, and a demographic that favors one party or the other, it is reasonable to expect these numbers. Also, States that have only one congressional district cannot be gerrymandered. There is also the question as to which party the unaffiliated will vote for, but I suspect that the unaffiliated lean more to the left of center than right of center in their voting, and thus, they are more likely to vote for a Democrat candidate.

The disproportionate Democrat/Republican Representatives are more concerning, as they occur in the larger States and have a greater impact on the composition of Congress. They also show that this impact is more favorable to the Democrat Party than the Republican Party (137-72). There are some reasonable explanations for this disproportion, but a margin of 2 Democrats to 1 Republican is suspicious, and it is probably the result of Gerrymandering. A YouTube video, ???The Fox Host Couldn't Believe What JD Vance Just Revealed About The Democratic Party???, explains how this Gerrymandering has impacted the current Congressional apportionment, and why the Democrats are so opposed to any redistricting.

Thus, Gerrymandering is having an impact on Congressional representation, as well as reducing/increasing the voice of the voters of one party or the other in Congress. This is not the purpose of a Democratic republic, but an attempt to freeze out the voice of one party or the other. Such are the tactics of authoritative governance, which always lead to a diminishment of the Liberties and Freedoms of a people.

Alas, correcting this problem is a herculean task, as those in power are unmotivated to fix this problem, and legal action often results in a different form of Gerrymandering that can pass legal muster. Consequently, the voters of the States are the only ones who can correct this problem by voting out those legislators who are supportive of Gerrymandering. I, however, do not expect this to happen, as regrettably, the voters in the Gerrymandered districts often have more to gain by the Gerrymandering than by doing the right civic thing.