Sep 24, 2020

CNN

Obama urges voters to focus on down-ballot races to combat gerrymandering

Former President Barack Obama urged voters to focus on down-ballot races in new remarks published Thursday, arguing that while the presidential race gets the most attention, it is down-ballot races that could have the greatest impact on politically-motivated gerrymandering…

Groups like the National Democratic Redistricting Committee and Forward Majority, a super PAC that aims to pour millions into key state legislative races, have been leading the fight to focus Democratic attention to these races.

Forward Majority announced earlier this month that they would direct $15 million into state legislative races in Texas, Florida, North Carolina and Arizona, so-called Sun Belt states where Democrats believe President Donald Trump could lead voters to reject Republicans in November.

“Without having a seat at the table next year, we will likely see an unprecedented level of gerrymandering,” said Forward Majority co-founder Vicky Hausman, who argued that these four states “represent the most powerful points of leverage in our democracy.”

Read the full piece from CNN.