Last week, a special election in Texas state Senate race sent shockwaves across the country, when Taylor Rehmet won by 14 points in a +17 Trump district. In a bonus episode this week of It’s The Democracy, Stupid, Bill Scher, Politics Editor at the Washington Monthly, explained how gerrymandering backfired for the Texas GOP in the state.
“They tried to create five more Republican districts for themselves. They did it. Four of those five districts were heavily Latino. And typically when you’re gerrymandering, you’re gerrymandering professionally and properly, you don’t base your decisions based on the last election, but the last several elections. You’re trying to maximize or spread out your reliable vote in more districts. You’re not hinging it based on a swing vote that just swung one time most recently because that vote can swing back,” Scher said.
However, while great news for Democrats, Scher warns that nothing is in the bag for Democrats in Texas. If they want to tip the scales and win back Latino’s in the state, he has one message: “Trump promised a better economy and has not delivered.”
Enjoy more of the Edwin Eisendrath with The Washington Monthly’s Bill Sher on It’s The Democracy, Stupid, right here on Lincoln Square.
