Thread by @Salon

EXCLUSIVE: New court documents, previously unrevealed emails and secret internal documents reveal a Republican scheme to gerrymander America and undermine our democracy. salon.com/2018/02/06/how…

In June of 2009, Thomas Hofeller laid out for the first time before Republican state legislators the GOP strategy to reinvent the gerrymander, with a presentation called "Redistricting 2010: Preparing for Success."

The presentation explains why the GOP now dominates all levels of American politics in spite of a polarized and closely divided electorate that generally tends to favor Democrats.

GOP gerrymandering strategy:
- Target state legislatures that either party held by 5 or less seats
- Focus on states where gov. had veto power over maps
- Raise money, upgrade tech., recruit & train candidates
- Guarantee state legislatures had a redistricting lawyer & litigator

In 2020, a new presentation asked: “How do we create 20-25 new Republican Congressional districts over the next 5 cycles and solidify a Republican Congressional majority?”

The answer? “Control the redistricting process!”

What will it take to dominate redistricting? Ed Gillespie said a $31.5 million investment on state legislative races in 2010.

If the Republican Party didn't act, he said, the cost would mount to $255 million over the next decade.

The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) sent robocalls into Texas in June 2010 issuing the message to Republicans that a Democratic majority in the Texas legislature could mean 4 more “Democrat Congressmen” in Washington.

In a July 2010 report to donors, the RSLC reported stellar political and fundraising results.

In a Sept. 2010 briefing, the RSLC predicted it would hold every GOP chamber, pick up at least 10 Democratic chambers and place another 17 in play — all of them then held by the Democrats.

An invitation to a 2011 “REDMAP Appreciation Luncheon” spells out a GOP victory.