Our Time Is Now: Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America

by Stacey Abrams

Gerrymandering has come to refer to the drawing of legislative districts in shapes and configurations that give a party or a person an unfair advantage in elections. The practice, which runs counter to U.S. constitutional goals of fair representation, got its name from the machinations of some Massachusetts legislators, when in 1812, Governor Elbridge Gerry signed a bill that drew district lines for the state. One hyper-partisan district in the Boston area took the shape of a salamander, and so the portmanteau of gerrymander was born, and with it came denunciations from the press of the time as well as the governor himself. In the past two hundred years, both major political parties have leveraged the drawing of congressional maps to privilege incumbents and their parties. However, in 2011, the issue of gerrymandering captured national attention. The 2010 elections flipped control of Congress to Republicans. Voters also awarded the GOP control of state legislatures and more than thirty governorships. In states like Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin, the Republican sweep gave the GOP unprecedented power to redraw political lines based on the outcome of the 2010 census. In most states, redistricting happens the same year that the census releases its data, usually in February of the year following the count. In state after state, the Republican Party not only cemented its 2010 electoral victories; it ensured little would change in the next decade and beyond by drawing political l...