Against gerrymandering

Bipartisan swath of lawmakers files Supreme Court briefs against gerrymandering

By EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s push for nonpartisan redistricting gained significant Republican support on Tuesday, with Ohio Gov. John Kasich signing on to his amicus brief at the Supreme Court and Arizona Sen. John McCain filing a separate friend-of-the-court brief.

Then 36 current and former members of Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, filed yet another amicus brief that includes the chairman of the Freedom Caucus and the former chairman of the Progressive Caucus.

The court is scheduled to hear a case in October, Gill v. Whitford, that could abolish partisan gerrymandering. Schwarzenegger, the former California governor, has made gathering support for it a priority. He spent last week calling members of Congress and governors directly, urging them to sign on.

Kasich tweeted on Tuesday evening: “Gerrymandering erodes democracy. ‘We the people…’ still needs to mean something. Unfortunately, gerrymandering restricts voters’ ability to keep our leaders in check.”

McCain and his colleague Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) wrote that they “see firsthand the concerns of constituents who increasingly view politics as a game run by powerful special interests that have changed the rules to win the game,” calling their brief a “bipartisan report from the political front lines” that they hope will sway the Court.

“Americans do not like gerrymandering,” they go on in the brief. “They see its mischief, and absent a legal remedy, their sense of powerlessness and discouragement has increased, deepening the crisis of confidence in our democracy. We share this perspective.”

The brief from the coalition of members of Congress goes into 30 pages of depth about individual districts and the effect of gerrymandering on election results.

“What our political system needs now — what the problem of extreme partisan gerrymandering needs now — are basic boundaries, so that our parties may begin to correct course and mend the broken parts of our political process,” the members write. “This Court should give the Nation that chance.”

Signing on are Reps. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.), Rod Blum (R-Iowa), Mike Coffman (R-Colo.), Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Andy Harris (R-Md.), Walter Jones (R-N.C.), Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) and Scott Tipton (R-Colo.). They are joined, from the other side of the aisle, by Reps. Don Beyer (D-Va.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.), John Larson (D-Conn.), Alan Lowenthal (D-Cal.), Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), David Price (D-N.C.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.).

Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) has also joined the effort.

In response to the new support, Schwarzenegger tweeted: “I am honored to stand together to fight for a sane system that puts the power where it belongs: not with politicians, with the voters. It’s time to end the incumbent protection racket of gerrymandering and let our politicians know that they must earn our vote.”