Thread by @VoteGloriaJ

More on the supermajority’s “backroom, secret map power grab” redistricting process.👇🏼 I did an interview with @GeraldHarrisTV today and he asked some interesting questions.

First we talked about the process and the supermajority’s performative attempts at “transparency.” There is nothing transparent about this Backroom power grab.

The maps are said to be “concepts” at this point, perhaps not the final. Weird that some members get to see them and some have to be “invited.”

It’s my understanding that 5 Nashville Reps in the current map have been drawn into 2 districts, thus “orphaning” 3 districts. The supermajority have removed the representation the people in Nashville chose.

It should be no surprise to anyone that the Reps involved are the most vocal. If there is one thing we all know, it’s how terrified the supermajority is of opposition voices-especially strong ones. Mr. Harris asked why I thought they were bent on having an even larger majority…

Even w/a supermajority of 73 out of 99 House members, they aren’t confident enough to lead with those numbers, they obviously need more. They are terrified of the numbers of folks who support Medicaid expansion, public schools, legal cannabis, higher wages and paid family leave.

Those are all issues that a bipartisan majority support, and quite frankly, the GOP offer no policies that benefit TN families. They talk social/wedge issues that bring division, but no policy to improve the lives of TN families.

Though statewide we tend to vote about 60%R and 40%D, our legislative numbers of D’s and R’s don’t reflect that due to gerrymandering. The Backroom decisions allow electeds to choose their voters rather than keeping communities whole and allowing voters to choose electeds.

As a case study, look at HD13. It was about a plus 2 Democratic district for some time. After the 2010 census, the GOP added 2 large county R and one city R precinct making it about a +9 R district. I won that race by less than 300 votes in 2012.

In 2014 and 2016 the GOP put over a million dollars in those races to beat me by less than 200 votes each time. In 2018, HD13 overwhelmingly voted for a candidate who fought for healthcare access, public schools, higher wages, and paid family leave-by 2400 votes.

Then, again with massive spending by GOP and outside groups, we won in 2020 by 1500 votes. Now that HD13 is decidedly a Democratic district and no matter the GOP’s spending-they can’t win it, they will crack HD13 to add more red turf, taking away the clear choice of the voters.

They will add more bright red precincts and make a 60/40 County, that by the numbers should have 2-3 democrats, a 1 Democrat county. Voters should choose their electeds, not the other way around. The TN GOP are so afraid of others ideas, why?

Here is the map and how it changed after the 2010 census, from being a +2 D district in the city, to adding a big city R precinct (city precinct no longer R BTW;-) and 2 huge 70%+ R county precincts to make it a +9R district.