Cheating To Win: Gerrymandering And The Fight For Fair Representation

Hot Topic Bold Talk | Fair Representation

Ever wonder how a single political maneuver can silence millions of voices and reshape the very fabric of democracy? In this deep dive, Jackalyn Rainosek, PhD exposes the shocking reality of gerrymandering, revealing how cunning tactics manipulate electoral maps, particularly in Texas, to entrench power and sideline communities of color. From the historical origins of this “salamander-shaped” injustice to the urgent calls for action from figures like Vice President Kamala Harris, join us as we unravel the profound threat gerrymandering poses to fair representation and explore the inspiring stories of resistance that offer a path forward.

Episode Summary Points:

  • Trump’s chilling promise that MAGA Republicans would “never have to vote again” is being realized through extreme gerrymandering.
  • Texas’s new map, signed by Gov. Abbott as the “One Big Beautiful Map,” flips five Democratic seats and entrenches Republican power mid-decade, outside normal Census rules.
  • Vince Perez’s analysis reveals racial engineering: it takes 445,000 white residents to elect one House member, but 1.4 million Latinos or 2 million Black Texans for the same representation.
  • How gerrymandering works — through cracking and packing — and why it distorts democracy, undermines “one person, one vote,” and creates safe districts for extremists.
  • The democratic damage: gerrymandering undermines trust, increases polarization, reduces voter choice, and entrenches minority rule.
  • Congressional consequences: Gerrymandering distorts representation, reduces competitiveness, fuels dysfunction, and blocks bipartisan solutions—even on issues Republicans once demanded, like border security.
  • Wisconsin’s success story: Activists like Bill Penzey fought back and ended gerrymandering, showing citizens can reclaim fair maps.
  • Kamala Harris’s call to action: Republicans cheat because they cannot win on ideas—so it’s time to “fight fire with fire” through activism, voting, and spreading the word.

References for Podcast 140:

  • New York Times, June 27, 2019, What Is Gerrymandering? And How Does It Work? By Michael Wines.
  • Brennan Center For Justice, “Gerrymandering Explained,” by Michael Li, August 10, 2021, and updated August 9, 2025.
  • Jackalyn Rainosek, PhD, “What Is Gerrymandering,” By John P. Rafferty, August 7, 2025.
  • Time Magazine, Texas’s New Map Is Racial Division by Another Name, by Representative Vince Perez of El Paso, on August 20, 2025, 10:44 AM CT
  • Kamala Harris,contact@e.kamalharris.com, Saturday, September 6, 2025.
  • New York Times, “Abbott Signs Gerrymandered Map as Texas G.O.P. Moves Further Right,” by J. David Goodman, August 29, 2025.

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Watch the episode here

Listen to the podcast here

Cheating To Win: Gerrymandering And The Fight For Fair Representation

I am happy to be back providing podcasts because I am particularly focusing on Gerrymandering, since there is so much going on about it. You were very lucky to hear in Episode 139 from my friend Richard Wilson, who is an outstanding lawyer and provides information about the courts and how things like gerrymandering can be fought. I will provide additional information in this episode, Cheating to Win Gerrymandering, and the Fight for Fair Representation.

In Episode 139, Richard and I asked you to join us in exploring the legal dimensions of gerrymandering. His legal expertise gave us a window into how the courts shape this struggle for fair representation. In this episode, I will go much further. I will examine how Texas has engineered one of the most racially divisive congressional maps in modern history, how gerrymandering works, why it is such a threat to democracy, and how this practice distorts Congress itself.

I will also bring you stories of resistance, like how Wisconsin activists successfully rolled back a Republican map that was rigged. I will call out some action statements from Vice President Kamala Harris. I will try to remind you, as I go through this experience of talking about gerrymandering, what we truly missed when some of you voted for Trump and got him elected. We could have had Kamala Harris as president of the United States.

Let me go through and really talk about gerrymandering. Trump’s roadmap is based on his MAGA Republicans will “Never have to vote again.” Trump made a chilling promise that if he were reelected, his MAGA Republicans would “Never have to vote again.” These words were not bravado. They were a blueprint. There are so many things that I think you missed, those of you who voted for Trump, because you missed all his messages about what he was really going to do, not what he was going to do for you.

Gerrymandering has become the core tool for fulfilling his promises. By manipulating congressional districts, Trump and his allies ensure that even unpopular choices, like his “one big, beautiful bill” act, which cuts healthcare, education, and cancer research, cannot be overturned at the ballot box. Texas set the fourth line of this strategy, and states like Missouri and Indiana are already considering following Texas’s lead.

Gerrymandering Explained: Cracking & Packing

What is gerrymandering, and how does it work? I’ve given you several references, which I always do with my show, but the ones I’m using are from The New York Times on June 27, 2019, the Brennan Center for Justice, and Britannica, because they have updated information on gerrymandering. The practice of manipulating the boundaries of electoral districts to give one political party an unfair advantage over the other is what gerrymandering is.

[bctt tweet=”Gerrymandering is the practice of manipulating electoral district boundaries to give one political party an unfair advantage over another.” via=”no”]

There are two main ways to use gerrymandering. Cracking, which is spreading opposition voters across many districts so they cannot form a majority anywhere, and that’s what Texas has done, cracking. The second way is packing, which is concentrating opposition voters into just a few districts, like they tried to do in Alabama, wasting their votes and reducing their overall influence. We know that African Americans in Alabama were able to get a second district because of a Supreme Court ruling.

The word gerrymander, as Richard talked about, originated in 1812 when the Massachusetts governor, Elbridge Gerry, signed a redistricting bill that included a salamander-shaped district designed to benefit his party. I know we’ve talked about it in Episode 139, but let’s look at the effects. The effects are profound because by manipulating district lines, politicians can win more seats than their share of the vote, which would normally allow. It subverts the democratic principle of One Person, One Vote.

The damage to our democracy is as follows, and I’m drawing from the Smithsonian Magazine, HistoryNet, and Wikipedia. You can look those up yourself. I didn’t include them in my references for this particular episode. We see gerrymandering corrodes the impact on American democracy. One of the things it does is it undermines representative democracy. Politicians choose their voters, creating safe districts where accountability disappears.

Two, it distorts political representation. A party can win more seats than its actual vote share, while minority communities are cracked or packed into impotence. Three, it increases partisanship with safe seats, extreme candidates thrive, shutting down moderates and those who have a right to be represented. Four, it reduces voter engagement. When outcomes are predetermined, voters disengage and lose faith. Five, it provides a constitutional concern. Racial gerrymandering may violate both the 15th Amendment and the Voting Rights Act, yet the Supreme Court has failed to establish clear standards, as we all know.

Texas Racial Division By Design

This is not the absurdity that I’m talking about. It is happening in Texas. Now I want to talk about the Texas racial division by design. Representative Vince Perez of El Paso, in his August 2025 Time magazine article, exposes how Texas Republicans engineered their map. Here’s what I want to describe to you. It is very disturbing. Demographics are being ignored. Nearly 60% of Texans are people of color, and 90% of the population growth has come from Latino and Black communities. Yet white voters are positioned to control 26 of 38 seats. They’re trying to get five more.

The mathematical inequality is shocking. One congressional district can be secured by about 440,000 white residents. It takes 1.4 million Latino representatives or 2 million Black representatives to secure the same representation. It’s a fact. The facts are disturbing. It’s a fake Latino majority district that’s also been created. By splitting barrios and adding Anglo precincts, mapmakers have created districts that look diverse on paper but deliver power to white voters. Perez warned that these maps don’t just entrench a party. They entrench a racial hierarchy, teaching communities of color that their ballots are worthless by this design.

[bctt tweet=”The mathematical inequality is shocking: one congressional district can be secured by about 440,000 white residents, but it takes 1.4 million Latinos or 2 million Black residents to secure the same representation.” via=”no”]

We also have to look at something else. The New York Times, by David Goodman in August 2009, documents the steps that the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, who signed the bill to redistrict, is doing it because Trump told him to. What Trump is trying to do is cover the fact that his one big, beautiful map that he’s asked Abbott to create is just as bad as his big, beautiful bill. Abbott has developed five Democratic seats to be Republican, cementing the GOP dominance. Abbott claims the map ensures fairer representation, but the truth is obvious. It is engineered to entrench Republican power mid-decade, outside the normal census cycle.

The redistricting fight overshadowed urgent disaster relief after the catastrophic Hill Country floods that killed 135 people. We don’t care about them, but we’re going to be sure we’re going to do what Trump tells us to do. Those 135 people, including children, instead of prioritizing relief, Abbott and his allies have prioritized Trump’s agenda. The gerrymandering wasn’t the only racially destructive move. During the same special session, by Republicans, a Bathroom Bill that targets transgender Texans, a law that blocks abortion medications by enabling lawsuits against shippers like Federal Express, and it expands the power of the attorney general to investigate elections.

Our current attorney general is just as corrupt as Trump and Abbott. These measures, once too extreme even for Texas Republicans, sailed through under Trump’s directive to upend the status quo. The so-called “One Big Beautiful Map” is not just a redistricting plan. It’s part of a full-spectrum authoritarian agenda. How this goes is that gerrymandering broadens the effect on Congress. Research from the Brennan Center and the New America highlights how gerrymandering tilts national power. It is distorting representation. The ruling party wins seats disproportionate to its votes.

You can think about the statistics. I just gave you some information about the population of Texas. It entrenches partisan control. Safe districts guarantee continued power despite changing voter preferences. It’s reducing the competition. Elections become meaningless. The primaries elect extremists. It exacerbates the polarization that’s going on in America. Its dysfunction is growth. As we see it in the House today, where Republicans block bipartisan solutions like the border deal they themselves demanded before Trump ordered it not to be approved, it undermines the legitimate actions of the law.

Wisconsin’s Method Of Resisting Republicans

When Congress doesn’t reflect the people, citizens lose faith in democracy itself. Just a few years ago, we had an example of Wisconsin and its method of resisting Republicans. There is hope if we follow it. In Wisconsin, activists, such as Bill Penzey and coalitions of Democrats and Republicans, fought to end Republican gerrymandering. Their efforts restored competitive districts and Democrats gained control, not by gaming the system, but by finally letting voters’ voices be heard. Wisconsin proves that when people are organized and fight for fair maps, change is possible. That’s what we have to do in Texas and anywhere else is speak out and refuse to support these actions.

I got an email from Kamala Harris since I get them often. I think she really captures what is happening. She says, “Know that this is one thing, cheating to maintain power. Republicans know they cannot win if they don’t cheat. That is why I’m proud that right here in California, the voters will lead the fight for fairness. I hope you’re volunteering and sharing the news about this election with your friends. It is time to fight fire with fire. That is what this moment requires.” She talks in this email about the fact that there is very little support for Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill.

[bctt tweet=”Democracy is not self-sustaining. It requires all of us to fight for fairness, resist the corruption we see in Trump’s administration, and demand a government that reflects the people—not a minority of extremists.” via=”no”]

In fact, it’s disastrous, and it touches so many people who need our help. In a democracy, we help our friends. We help those who live in America, and that’s not what the Big, Beautiful Bill does. Here’s the thing that she calls out to us. We need to fight for our democracy, and it requires us not just to be outraged but to take action.

Defending Democracy From Minority Rule

Here’s how I want to end this episode. From Trump’s boast that his MAGA Republicans would never have to vote again, to Abbott’s signing of the One Big Beautiful Map, to the racial engineering detailed by Vance Perez, the story is the same. Gerrymandering is being weaponized to cheat Americans of fair representation.

This is not politics as usual. It is the manipulation of democracy itself, and it carries with it a racial hierarchy that demeans Latinos and Black Texans. It will do the same thing in any state that has the audacity to use gerrymandering to redistrict its map. It undermines the votes of these individuals. Missouri and Indiana are preparing to discuss this and follow through.

There’s another story, the story of Wisconsin, the story of Kamala Harris’s call to fight back, the story of citizens who refuse to accept minority rule, which is exactly what’s happening in Texas. If you look at the statistics, 60% of Texans are people of color. Does that really meet our American destiny and our American thought? I don’t think so.

That is why Rich Wilson and I will continue to bring you monthly discussions of the courts and the law, and why we must unite against party lines to call out racial gerrymandering for what it is. It is cheating to maintain power. Democracy is not self-sustaining. It requires all of us to fight for fairness, resist the corruption that we see every day with Trump’s administration, and demand a government that reflects the people, not a minority that are extremists.

In my new episode, about 141, I will return to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and give more information that was already given before. We’ll talk about the periods of reauthorization that protect us from abuses like these that we are experiencing now, and the Supreme Court’s devastating decision, Shelby County versus Holder, which we have discussed previously, but I want to show how it truly stripped away the protection and gave states like Texas a free hand to racially engineer their maps. I will provide further information that was not covered before. I want you to fully understand what gerrymandering is, and what we want is to have fair representation in America. That is not what is going to happen.

Now, we’ll see what the Supreme Court does with the Texas map. My concern is that the Supreme Court has been so severely affected by Trump, and he can affect it in the future. We as Americans have to march, speak out, and demand from our states that we have free representation for every person in this country, and that we do not support gerrymandering. Thank you so much for tuning in.

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