Democratic strategist says party lacks 'moral authority' on Texas redistricting fight
Democrats are fighting tooth and nail to stop Texas lawmakers' plan to redraw the state's congressional map, but critics, including one prominent member of their own party, say they don't exactly hold the moral high ground.
Democrat legislators have fled the state to avoid votes on redistricting, which is expected to add more Republican seats to Congress for the Lone Star State. They're getting the rock-star treatment as they visit blue states, where several governors have vowed to gerrymander Republicans out of their own Congressional delegations in retaliation for the Texas effort.
However, Democratic strategist Julian Epstein told "Fox News Live" on Saturday that his party is not immune from criticism, as many blue states have already gerrymandered in a way that limits Republican congressional representation.
"No, I think they don’t have the moral authority, and there’s a lot of pearl-clutching going on," he said.
Several blue states, including Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Mexico, have no Republicans in their House delegations. And many feature oddly-drawn districts, seemingly crafted to limit GOP representation.
"The Democrats don’t have clean hands here. You look at states like Massachusetts, New Jersey[…] Illinois, California, and Democrats have effectively gerrymandered Republicans out of existence," Epstein added.
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Epstein cautioned that the nationwide redistricting battle could create a "race to the bottom," and that leaving Republicans and Democrats in states led by the opposite parties could lead to people feeling left out of the democratic process. Epstein cited New Jersey, in which Trump garnered 46% of the vote in 2024, but Republicans only have three out of the 12 congressional seats.
Meanwhile, Texas state Rep. Brian Harrison, a Republican, told Fox News Digital on Saturday that Democrats are guilty of "total hypocrisy and faux outrage."
"The dirty little secret is Democrats have no problem whatsoever with states redrawing their congressional maps to maximize partisan political advantage. They're just furious that Republican states are starting to redraw their maps," Harrison said.
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"It's because Democrat state after Democrat state, for a decade, has been gerrymandering the hell out of their congressional maps," he said.
"Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island, Delaware, all of these states have zero. If you're a Republican in those Democrat states, you don't have any voice in Congress," he added. "And [there are] many, many more that have given you just one seat, Oregon, I think Maine and Maryland."
In California, a special election is likely to occur in November to counteract the Texas redistricting plan.
"We are talking about emergency measures to respond to what’s happening in Texas, and we will nullify what happens in Texas," California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Friday with some Texas state lawmakers.
"We’ll pick up five seats with the consent of the people. And that’s the difference between the approach we’re taking and the approach they’re taking," Newsom added. "We’re doing it on a temporary basis. We’re doing it in a fully transparent way and we’re doing it by asking the people of the state of California for their consent and support."
Harrison explained that Texas’s redistricting push has numerous reasons behind it, including the population growth in the Lone Star state since the last census.