New York and California have become unlikely focal points in the fight for control of the House, as Democrats toil to appeal to wary voters in districts won by President Biden.

Basically: anti-gerrymandering rules in several Democratic-leaning states man that there are a whole lot of competitive seats in the house of representatives. Vote, especially downballot, and even if you think you’re in a place that’s “safe” for one presidential candidate or another.

  • @Rapidcreek
    7•2 months ago

    Typical NYT analytical pattern: Perhaps X, but on the other hand, maybe not X.

    • @[email protected]OP
      5•2 months ago

      They under no circumstances take a strong stand about what’s true outside of an op-ed piece.

      Still, if you look at a list of close races it’s pretty clear that the CA and NY races are a big deal.

      • @Rapidcreek
        0•2 months ago

        Ah…The only election in a swing district in NY in past two years went heavily towards the Dem candidate. There are 5 districts in the suburbs of LA which Biden won but are represented by Republicans. Those are trending Dem.

        In the article it was stated that Democrats had learned from their “midterm trouncing.” What midterm trouncing? They lost 11 seats! Typically a president’s party lost 20+.The NYT obviously thinks their Red Wave happened, and what happens in NY and CA denotes a national trend.

  • @[email protected]English
    4•2 months ago

    This is one of the areas on which I genuinely don’t understand the Democratic Party’s strategy.

    Yes - I agree that gerrymandering is categorically bad and fundamentally un-democratic (small “d”). But the Tribunal of Six doesn’t care, so it’s perfectly legal. So why aren’t we deploying malicious compliance on this front?

    There’s a solution here, too. Blue states/legislatures can draw two maps - one heavily blue-gerrymandered, and one that is as fair and district-compact as possible - and also pass a “trapdoor” law that swaps the districts to the fair map once a national ban on gerrymandering is enacted. (Edit) There is actually precedent for this.

    It’s just so fucking infuriating watching the GOP use the (currently fully legal) tactic to undermine our legislatures and society, while the DNC won’t even consider malicious compliance. Seriously, MC needs to be one of the go-to strategies when combating the GOP. Hopefully the need for that sort of thing will diminish in the future, but for now, it is desperately needed.

    • @[email protected]OP
      1•2 months ago

      The anti-gerrymandering laws in Democratic-leaning states largely passed before the 2010 redistricting when Republicans swung the gerrymander heavily in their favor.