Former Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Rick Santorum told Newsmax that redistricting presents Republicans in many states with the potential of “major gains.”
Santorum told "American Agenda" on Thursday that “I suspect we're just getting started.” Republicans in Texas began the redistricting push, but it is expanding to other states, including a hotly contested effort in California, where Democrats are trying to counterbalance any gains made in Texas.
The former senator said the GOP, however, has the edge. “The opportunity is there for Republicans to make major gains in a lot of states that, frankly, have not been particularly aggressive in redistricting, in part because of previous Supreme Court decisions having to do with taking race into account.”
Santorum said now that the issue is eliminated, Republicans would do well to take advantage of the option. And the Democrats, he said, less so. “This is a fight the Democrats, I don't think, want to pick, because there's many more opportunities for Republicans to gerrymander, to pick up seats.”
He pointed out that Democrats may have used up all their options. “The Democrats historically have gerrymandered. Illinois? There's only three Republicans [congressional seats held by] in the state of Illinois. There's only a handful, less than 10 Republicans in the state of California; there's 53 congressmen.”
But Texas offers a lot of opportunity for Republican gains, he said. “Texas is an example where they really didn't do a very aggressive job in gerrymandering. And I would think you'll find that in some of these other states, too, where they can draw the maps much more aggressively.”
One thing that needs to be remembered, Santorum said, is that people can change their minds about how they want to vote, a lot easier than redrawing boundaries for congressional seats. “Careful what you wish for,” he said. “So you're making more competitive seats in some cases, and that's not all bad.”
Republicans are moving forward with a redistricting plan in Texas now that Democratic legislators who fled the state in an attempt to block it have returned to work. Republicans have filed a legal challenge against Democratic-controlled California for drawing up new boundaries for congressional seats. Other states are considering entering the political fray, including Missouri.
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Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.