The Independent View: State's Gerrymandering Update

There are two big groups with Obama ties playing on this Gerrymandering turf: the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), led by former Attorney General Eric Holder, and the Statehouse-focused Political-Action Committee (PAC) Forward Majority, led by Obama for America veteran David Cohen and other Obama Alums.

Holder’s NDRC is targeting 10 States, including Georgia, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, with a combination of Legal Challenges to Gerrymandering, Ballot Initiatives on Redistricting, and Material support for a still-undetermined number of Individual Candidates. One of the group’s main Goals, says NDRC Director Kelly Ward, is to make clear to Black Voters that “gerrymandering and voter suppression go together.”

Forward Majority will Target more than 100 Legislative Races in at least Eight States, including Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Like the NDRC, the group is focused on States where Gerrymandering has been Extreme. It is also trying to bring the Tools of the Modern Congressional Campaign: Social-Media, SMS Outreach, Mail Messaging, Polling, and Canvassing, to Underfunded State Races. “We’re looking for a set of races that are competitive, but where others are not playing,” says Forward Majority’s Hausman. “We tell people their highest return is at the state-legislature level. A small amount of money can go a long way.”

The folks at Forward Majority, one of the Better-Funded Outside groups, are Diplomatic about the Tensions between Virginia’s House Democratic Caucus and some of the Forward Majority–backed Candidates. “We went to the caucus and said, ‘OK, you’ve got your top 10 or so candidates,’” Obama Alum David Cohen recalls, “‘so we’ll start with number 11 and work down.’” Forward Majority worked with Virginia Delegates Kelly Fowler, Lee Carter (Democratic Socialists of America), along with Dawn Adams, the first out Lesbian Elected to the House of Delegates, and Progressive Feminist College Professor Debra Rodman, as well as a few Candidates who came close but lost.