Dems turn to the courts to swing control of the House back to them

Democrats are expressing hope that the courts will give the party a helping hand to regain control over the House of Representatives after they narrowly lost their one-party control over the federal government in last year’s midterm elections.

The balance of power should shift back to the Democratic Party if a series of legal challenges to redistricting maps is successful, potentially costing Republicans the several seats that they are currently depending on to hold onto their razor-thin majority.

In what was seen as a major win for the party’s political fortunes, federal judges in Alabama ruled last week against a redrawn congressional map because it didn’t create a new majority-black district, one of several court battles that are currently playing out as Democrats and their legal guns seek to permanently tilt the table in their favor.

“It’s an incredible win,” said Marina Jenkins, executive director of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, a group created by former Attorney General Eric Holder that is spearheading the redistricting movement, according to Politico. “It’s an incredibly important moment.”

“This time Alabama. Yet another victory for voters. The court rightly stepped up and applied the law in order to protect the rights of all Alabamians,” Holder aka “Obama’s wingman” posted to X after the Alabama ruling. “The state’s blatant defiance of both the court-and the Supreme Court-will be fought as long as necessary.”

A Florida judge also recently ruled that a congressional map backed by Governor Ron DeSantis was unconstitutional for adversely impacting the rights of black voters, another win for Democrats in a state-by-state fight that also includes legal battles playing out in several other states.

“Much of the political clout that we’ve had in those areas pretty much has been diluted by the courts,” said former Florida Rep. Al Lawson.

“I think it’s good that the justices are now beginning to understand the 14th Amendment of the Constitution,” he added, referring to the post-Civil War constitutional amendment that leftists seem to see as the master key for unlocking their power.

“All told, a dozen or more seats across at least six states could be redrawn, increasing the likelihood Democrats could chip away the five-seat GOP House majority through redistricting alone,” Politico reported. “Democrats could pick up an extra seat in each of a handful of states, including Florida, Alabama and Louisiana, and perhaps several more in New York. Republicans could still pick up as many as four seats in North Carolina, but the recent rulings put Democrats in a position to offset those losses — and then some.”

In another court case, Democrats are hoping to gain additional seats in Georgia through race-based gerrymandering.

With control of Congress at stake, Democrats have called in their superstar to lend his clout to the redistricting push as former President Barack Obama hosted a fundraiser for the NDRC in swanky Martha’s Vineyard last month, according to Politico.

“The only danger is that we get complacent,” Obama said at the event, according to a readout obtained by the outlet. “Because one thing we’ve learned is that the other side doesn’t quit.”

“We are now living in an era of perpetual redistricting,” NDRC president John Bisognano said in a memo for the fundraiser that was shared with Politico, titled “Five States Will Likely Have New Congressional Maps This Year—And That’s Enough to Tip the Next House Majority.”

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Chris Donaldson

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