Democratic lawmakers in Texas got the desired media attention this week after fleeing the state in an attempt to slow Republican redistricting efforts. But lawmakers failed to think their PR stunt all the way through.

On Monday, 57 Democrats serving in the Lone Star legislature ran out on their constituents to protest Republican plans to redraw district lines to the GOP’s advantage between decennial census counts. Redistricting is typically done only at the start of each decade based on updated census data.

The Democrats fled to blue states, including New York and Illinois. Ironically, that Midwestern locale is considered ground zero for gerrymandering, the term to describe political parties drawing boundaries for partisan purposes to perpetuate power. New York is also known for cynical gerrymandering efforts in recent years.

“It is certainly the case that Illinois has one of the most extreme congressional maps in the country,” Sam Wang, director of the Gerrymandering Project at Princeton, told The Wall Street Journal this week. That’s an understatement. About 35% of Illinois registered voters identify as Democrats, while 27% registered as Republican and 32% as independent or “unaffiliated.” Yet of the state’s 17 congressional districts, Democrats hold 14 seats and Republicans just three.

This is no accident. A look at the tortured boundaries reveals that Democratic state lawmakers went to great lengths to dilute GOP representation, particularly in rural areas. The 13th Congressional District in Illinois, for instance, includes a narrow stretch of land that snakes more than 175 miles from East St. Louis to Champaign, despite not being more than about 25 miles wide for much of the distance.

Democrats didn’t raise a stink when they gerrymandered Illinois following the 2020 census to limit Republican electoral success. Nor have they protested when New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and her fellow Democrats in the legislature have expressed willingness to attempt redistricting in the mid-Census cycle.

Somehow, only Republican gerrymandering is deemed an offense to democracy.

It’s true that the Texas GOP raises the stakes by redrawing the maps at an unusual time. This represents an attempt to limit potential Republican House losses in the midterms. Democrats in blue states now threaten to employ a similar tactic going forward, which should be a warning to the GOP about how emphasizing short-term political gain can boomerang in the long run.

Both Democrats and Republicans should understand that an increasing reliance on gerrymandering only further undermines confidence in our political institutions. It may also push voters to cut out state lawmakers in favor of reforms involving independent commissions or the judiciary, either of which would still be highly partisan.

But for Texas Democrats to hightail it to Illinois or New York to protest gerrymandering is the definition of high comedy.

— From Tribune News Service