On the heels of the special House election in Tennessee, I want to take a closer look at the process of gerrymandering. Quite simply, political gerrymandering is the territorial redefining of congressional districts in such a way as to create more favorable outcomes for one political party…that being the one doing the redefining. History tells us that both political parties have been practicing this effort for decades upon decades. But history will also tell us that the Democrats have been both more aggressive in this area and much more efficient in their efforts. The recent redistricting actions in Texas (now upheld by SCOTUS) have somehow supercharged the subject of gerrymandering and have created a new-found enthusiasm in both major political parties to somehow max out their national gerrymandering opportunities. It’s almost like sitting down two kids, each with a coloring book and a full box of crayons…then seeing who can finish their book first. While this can be done both legally and ethically…it can also be infused with overzealous ambition and corruption.
If
we can establish a point of origin…a ground zero if you will…for congressional
districts, then the intent of gerrymandering is for a political party to change
the congressional district boundaries so that their prospects of winning the
majority (if not all) of the
statewide congressional races are maximized.
This entails siphoning off voter advantages/disadvantages from one
district and shifting a portion of that strength/weakness to an adjoining
district(s), all in an effort to
improve the chances of winning both/all
districts. Put simply…It is maximizing
one party’s voter status while minimizing the other party’s voter status, on a
district-by-district basis, within a whole-state concept. This is precisely what we witnessed in the
outcome of the Tennessee special election.
Congressional
District 7 in Tennessee is composed of 14 counties. 11 of those counties are rural in nature and
clearly lean Republican red. 1 of those
counties is dominated by a large portion of Nashville and clearly leans Democrat
blue. The remaining 2 counties contain
sizeable cities (Clarksville and Franklin),
and although they are both Republican red, the urban influence of these two
cities tend to push them towards a potentially
purple status. These two counties are ripe targets for the Democrats in future
elections.
The
current definition of District 7 was established in February of 2022…first
taking effect in the elections of November/2022. This redrawing of District 7 was a clear
effort by Republicans in the Tennessee state government to dilute the urban
Democrat influence of Nashville in District 7 by splitting the city into three
parts…those parts going to Districts 5, 6, and 7.
In
the judgment of the Republicans, they were leaving sufficient Republican
strength in District 7 to insure their future election success there. The portions of the Democrat votes in
Nashville transferred to adjoining districts (5 and 6) were intended to split up that urban influence; thus
strengthening Republican chances in District 7.
Based on the outcome of this recent special election, they made the
right call. Van Epps won 13 of the 14
counties in District 7, while Behn won Davidson County (Nashville’s county) by better than 3-to-1. But even 3-to-1 was insufficient to win the
race.
The
Republican candidate Van Epps garnered 96,988 votes while his Democrat opponent
Behn received 81,094. This was a winning
margin of 15,894 votes in a total universe of 178,082 votes; a victory
percentage of about 54 percent to 46 percent (numbers per Tennessee Secretary of State website). The mainstream media is making a lot of noise
about how close this race was,
compared to the fact that Donald Trump carried this district by over 20
percentage points in his re-election.
That is nothing more than spinning.
An “8 percentage point win” in
an off-year, special election…held in
December no less…is not close. What
the margin of victory in this race tells us is that gerrymandering can actually
work sometimes. In this instance, the
Tennessee Republicans maintained sufficient red strength and diminished the
Nashville blue effect in District 7, while attempting
to improve their voter status advantages in Districts 5 and 6. The results of that attempt are yet to
be determined.
I
have no issue with gerrymandering within
reason. As populations shift over
time, it is perfectly acceptable that district lines should be redrawn to
reflect those shifts. As long as county
lines are observed in rural areas and reasonable lines are observed in urban
areas, I view the process as the fruits of victory for whichever party is
redrawing the lines. But there ought to be guardrails in place. Outside of extraordinary circumstances, redistricting
should be limited to one time between national census counts (which occur every 10 years at the beginning
of the new decade). It strikes me as
reasonable that there should be a window within which this redistricting can
take place; for instance, during years 3 through 8 of the decade. Splitting of rural counties should be avoided
and splitting of urban areas should reflect some type of reasonable logic.
This
appears to be what transpired in the
Tennessee redistricting effort. Based on
the recent SCOTUS decision, the Texas redistricting effort also passes the reasonable test. However, when we take a closer look at some
of the other redistricting efforts taking place across our country…by both parties…we do not see the same
type of respect for common sense and reason.
Some of the newly drawn districts in selected states resemble the old
image of modern art…where the artist simply slings a brush-full of paint upon a
blank canvas and calls it a masterpiece.
A variation of this method sometimes entails the artist simply throwing
the paint on the canvas and then wallowing in it or spreading it around willy
nilly with their hands…or other various body parts.
This
is the type of gerrymandering that goes beyond the pale, compromises the
fundamental premise of democratic congressional representation, and
demonstrates a clear abuse of power and authority. When congressional districts look more like a
salamander than they do a coherent group of counties, we can be pretty certain
that something is corrupt in the process.
Voters elect their leaders and the winning party justifiably gains
control of the subsequent legislative process.
This is our democratic template and it works quite well when elections
are honest, transparent, and we elect people of good character. Well….so
much for that notion. That trifecta
of honest, transparent, and good character is a high bar to clear these days
and…unfortunately…is rarely achieved.
When
the party in control redraws congressional districts, they are sometimes too
cute by half; they trim their advantage down
too much in one district and end up losing there in a close election due to
a poor candidate, an extraordinarily good opposing candidate, or just unusual
and unexpected circumstances. In order
words, their greed gets the best of them.
As long as legitimate (open to
various opinions) gerrymandering respects reasonable bounds of logic…geography,
demographics, and representation…I believe it is a process we can all live with
and accept. But sometimes, people in
power forget their missions and oaths; they go to places and in directions they
should not. And even though very few of
us are experts when it comes to governmental and election complexities…most of
us know when something stinks to high heaven.
Bottom
line: Gerrymandering when done responsibly is an expected outcome of democracy
in action. Gerrymandering when done
irresponsibly is an indictment of democracy in action. The
process is not the problem; the problem is the people doing the process. We get the government we deserve. Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts
absolutely.
In the “for what it’s worth” category, here is one other quick
observation. The
mainstream media…when it can stop its
fascination with defending narco-terrorist sailors, aiding Somali immigrants
with their fraud cover-up in Minnesota, and ignoring the fact that the Biden
Administration hung a 5 ton stone around the neck of the American economy…have
been spouting off about the coming Blue Wave, hanging the danger signs out for the Republicans, and crowing about how
resurgent the Democrat Party is today.
All these epiphanies are mainly based on Mamdani’s win in New York City,
Sherrill’s win in New Jersey, Spanberger’s win in Virginia, and Behn’s
so-called close defeat in Tennessee.
Democrats winning in New York City, New Jersey, and Virginia are like the sun
coming up in the east. It is no surprise
and no big deal that these folks won; they simply defended their home
courts. There is no consolation prize in
political races; there is no moral victory in defeat. The loser goes home and the winner assumes
the office. The new Congressman from
Tennessee’s 7th District will be Van Epps.
The
Republicans may or may not do well in the upcoming mid-term elections; but
there is nothing in the tea leaves of these elections that indicates the
Democrat Party has found its rejuvenated
mojo. I could be wrong here, but in my
humble opinion…hitching the Democrat Party wagon to the pulling team of AOC and
Sanders, putting the reins in the hands of Mamdani, and filling up the bed with
folks like Sherrill, Spanberger, and Behn…well, that strikes me as a risky
proposition.
One
thing is for certain…The mainstream media will do everything within its sphere
of power and influence to help the Democrats win in next year’s mid-term
elections. They will cherry-pick
economic data to cast the worst light possible; they will frame policy issues,
both domestic and foreign, in a way that emphasizes failure and diminishes
success; they will glorify Democrat candidates nationwide as nothing short of
the second coming, while digging back into high school archives to find
damaging fodder on Republican candidates.
“If” the Republicans win the
mid-term battle next year, they will do so in
spite of the media and based on positive results that they must generate between now and then. The spinning that we have witnessed from November’s
contests and the Tennessee special election is clear evidence who will be favored by the Fifth Estate.
There
is an old saying: Never play chess with a
pigeon. The pigeon just knocks all the
pieces over; then shits all over the board; then struts around like it won. This
is a good description of how the Biden Administration/Democrats ran our
government and how Democrats have behaved since Trump reassumed the White
House. Biden and his Democrats
spent four agonizingly long years screwing up this nation, its government, and
American interests all across the planet.
And now, having been recently removed from control, they have conveniently
forgotten all the damage they wrought.
https://americanmind.org/salvo/settling-afghans-here-puts-america-last/
https://www.nationalreview.com/2025/12/minnesotas-massive-welfare-fraud-scandal/
And
then there are the Biden Administration/Democrat messes that the Trump
Administration is trying to clean up…
https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/02/business/gas-prices-three-dollars
https://amgreatness.com/2025/12/05/a-long-term-trump-strategy-to-end-the-russia-ukraine-war/
https://freebeacon.com/columns/dealing-with-maduro-is-no-distraction-its-a-necessity/
https://amgreatness.com/2025/12/03/useless-u/
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/the-progressive-university-vs-the-classical-college/
https://amgreatness.com/2025/12/02/reindustrializing-america-without-retraining-americans-is-futile/
Love him or hate him...there is no denying that Donald J. Trump is large and in charge...
https://amgreatness.com/2025/12/07/a-force-of-history-why-trumps-influence-keeps-growing/
