DGA Chair Inslee’s Statement on Supreme Court Gerrymandering Decisions

Today, DGA Chair Governor Jay Inslee (WA) released the following statement on the Supreme Court’s declining to decide two gerrymandering cases: 
“Americans cannot wait for the Supreme Court to stop the gerrymandering that poisons our democracy,” said Gov. Inslee. “The most important thing we can do in 2018 to stop gerrymandering is to elect Democratic governors who will fight for fairer maps. This November’s gubernatorial elections will determine the makeup of Congress and state legislatures for more than a decade. The Supreme Court today affirmed what we have known for sometime: the best defense against gerrymandering in 2021 is a Democratic governor in the state house.”
“This November, Americans will elect more than 25 governors with veto power over 2021 maps. Governors with a veto pen in hand hold tremendous power to end extreme partisan gerrymandering and stand up for fair maps and fair representation. Democratic governors are ready to follow the path blazed by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf in fighting for maps that provide fairer Congressional and legislative districts. That’s why the DGA launched the Unrig The Map project to support this critical mission.
“Today, Justice Kagan warned: ‘The 2010 redistricting cycle produced some of the worst partisan gerrymanders on record. … The technology will only get better, so the 2020 cycle will only get worse.’ Justice Kagan is right: And that’s why we need Democratic governors at the table to stop Republican map-rigging after the 2020 Census.
“While the Supreme Court’s decision not to act on partisan gerrymandering today was disappointing, it reaffirms that electing Democratic governors in states is the single best path to unrigging the map across the United States. While Americans wait for the Court to take on redistricting in 2019, we can take action in 2018 to elect Democratic governors and stop extreme gerrymandering in its tracks.”
The DGA’s Unrig the Map project, launched in 2015, is a zero-overhead fund to win targeted gubernatorial races that are key to 2021 redistricting in Colorado, Florida, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The governors in these 8 states all hold veto power and play a key role in the redistricting process. In these 8 swing states combined, Republicans hold a 26-seat majority in Congress. Unrig The Map scored a significant victory in November 2017, as Democrats won the battleground of Virginia.

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