"You were hiding in a supply closet" on Jan 6 — Allred humiliates Cruz on debate stage

[Melizmatic]

@soimless

Gerrymandering really doesn’t apply

Incorrect.

[soimless]

@anon61221983

Um… no, that’s not the case at all. There is certainly knock-on effects from gerrymandering, especially of the kind found in Texas, which was highly aggressive in nature (and implemented with veiled threats to Democratic voters). People who don’t believe that their vote will have any impact locally, will often not come out to vote at all, meaning that they are less likely to come out for statewide elections.

I understand where you are coming from but I would consider those to be the knock-on effects and disadvantages of first past the post voting rather than Gerrymandering. If we magically got rid of Gerrymandering tomorrow. People would still not turn out for elections where one candidate has a large lead over another.

The specific unfair advantage given in drawing a district in a way that either packs or cracks voters does not apply to the state wide races the same way as the district races do.

[DukeTrout]

@soimless

The specific unfair advantage given in drawing a district in a way that either packs or cracks voters does not apply to the state wide races the same way as the district races do.

Which is only made possible when one party controls the legislature and executive and courts for a long time in the state - thus, Gerrymandering.

[FGD135]

@soimless

The specific unfair advantage given in drawing a district in a way that either packs or cracks voters does not apply to the state wide races the same way as the district races do.

[ citation needed ]

Preferably from somebody with actual experience in the field and including sources.

[soimless]

The closest thing I can find is this abstract Competitiveness in house and senate elections with identical constituencies | Political Behavior from the mid 80’s that states “When constituency factors are held constant, House incumbents perform slightly better at the polls than do Senate incumbents. However, the differences between House and Senate incumbents have not increased since 1920. On the contrary, the differences have narrowed somewhat.”

All it really says is even when the constituency is the same senate seats tend to be more competitive.

[Anselm]

@Mister44

Man, if anyone was honest about it, there is no way for Cruz to recover from that.

That’s what they said about Trump and the Access Hollywood tape.

[anon61221983]

@soimless

I would consider those to be the knock-on effects and disadvantages of first past the post voting rather than Gerrymandering.

It’s voter gerrymandering as voter suppression. You’re just wrong here. First past the post is a whole different discussion and set of problems. Gerrymandering is having an outisized effect on all races in states where it’s practiced.

@soimless

from the mid 80’s

Go look at @anon23281680’s excellent list of reasons why gerrymandering impacts statewide elections. Since the gutting of the voting rights act, which put guardrails on this kind of thing, we are in a whole new realm and comparing it to the fucking 80s isn’t particularly helpful. It’s more like the Jim Crow era than it is like the post-civil rights act era.

[Mister44]

True. The problem is Republicans don’t care about honesty, morals, or ethics any more. From Trump to Roy Moore to Cruz to Robinson - people who would have been dumped 30 years ago as unelectable are instead steel-manned and doubled down on. Blind loyalty to the party - yet they think they are free thinkers and everyone else is a sheep. LOL

[eccentriccog]

My kid certainly gets exposed to a slew of greasy attack ads by Cruz

[eccentriccog]

I still groan over the whole interview that Maddow did with Redmap’s founder following their massive victory directing funds to turn state houses.
Getting blindsided by that, along with suspension of VRA protections, and Citizen’s United are a triple-whammy of supression.