Three More Southern States Move Toward All-GOP Gerrymander As Dems Face Setbacks

Alabama, Louisiana, and South Carolina are jumping into the ongoing gerrymandering battle between Republicans and Democrats ahead of the November midterm elections, with all three states poised to try to eliminate Democratic Party-held House seats.

Fox News chief legal correspondent Shannon Bream joined anchor Bret Baier on Friday evening to give an update on the ongoing redistricting wars, in which the Democrats just faced a major setback as their Virginia gerrymander was shot down by the state’s Supreme Court.

“From the beginning, critics argued Democrats were violating the Virginia Constitution in a way that undermined the entire effort aimed at taking the Democrats’ six-to-five seat advantage to a ten-to-one edge. The court, by a four-to-three vote, finding a violation of the state constitution, held that this violation irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void,” began Bream’s coverage of the topic, adding:

The court added that the maps in effect before the referendum are the ones that must be used for the upcoming midterm elections. Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones says his team is, quote, “evaluating every legal pathway forward.” Several other states are scrambling to redraw their maps as well, following last week’s Supreme Court decision striking down the use of race as the primary factor in crafting a congressional district. “I declare it passed.”

Tennessee wasted no time in approving a new map that appears to give Republicans an additional seat amid repeated protests. Florida has also approved new maps looking to add four new seats to the Republicans’ tally, despite Democrat warnings.

“Our message to Florida Republicans is, ‘F around and find out,’” added a clip of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) from earlier in the month.

“Both states are already facing lawsuits, including one filed by the NAACP in Tennessee,” Bream continued, adding:

Additional states, including Alabama, where demonstrations repeatedly disrupted the proceedings, Louisiana, and South Carolina are considering or are in the process of attempting to redistrict their maps in a way that would also benefit Republicans. And breaking this evening: Alabama Republicans have just filed an emergency request with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the justices to lift a lower court ruling that stands in the way of their redistricting plans.

Now, if Republicans succeed in all the proposals currently underway and the new maps pass legal muster, they can actually stand to net anywhere from four to thirteen new seats before the midterm spread.

“That’s significant. And Shannon, just before the show started, we’re hearing that Virginia Democrats may appeal this decision to the U.S. Supreme Court,” added Baier, reacting to the report.

“Yeah, and it’s interesting because it was a decision strictly about interpreting the state constitution—it’s a state issue. There aren’t federal claims in that case. They lost today, so they say they’re going to go for this emergency appeal at the Supreme Court, but we’re gonna wait to see what federal claims they come up with for this very state-centered dispute,” Bream concluded.

Watch above via Fox News.

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