'This is a war': Hochul joins blue-state push in brewing gerrymander arms race

In strongly worded remarks, New York Governor Kathy Hochul declared “war” in response to President Donald Trump’s demand that Texas eliminate Democratic-held congressional seats through redistricting. Refusing to let New York operate at a disadvantage, Hochul blasted Texas Republicans as “law-breaking cowboys” and vowed to work to dismantle her state’s independent redistricting commission so she could redraw the maps on equal terms.

Governor Hochul met with Texas Democratic state lawmakers who fled the state to deprive Republicans of a quorum. Republicans are trying to vote on new maps that would likely boost the Lone Star State’s congressional Republican delegation from 25 to 30, reducing the seats Democrats hold by five.

“I have a news flash for Republicans in Texas,” Hochul announced. “This is no longer the Wild West. We’re not going to tolerate our democracy being stolen in a modern day stagecoach heist by a bunch of lawbreaking cowboys.”

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Urging “fairness,” she said that Americans “don’t want a system that is stacked against them,” are done with “chaos” and “cruelty,” and are ready to vote Republicans out.

“With all due respect to the good government groups, politics is a political process,” she said, and “when we say that we cannot use that power to its fullest, then we’re abdicating the responsibility that we all have.”

“This is a war. We are at war,” Hochul declared, while also noting that “All’s fair in love and war.”

“The gloves are off, and I say, ‘bring it on.'”

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Calling it a “political arms race to redraw the boundaries of congressional maps,” Politico reported that Hochul has “embraced the full-fledged gerrymandering of congressional districts in New York to favor Democrats.”

“The redistricting skirmish in New York is one front in a much larger battle nationwide,” Politico also reported.

The list of blue states that are considering, discussing, or already legislating to redraw their maps mid-decade, once unheard of, is growing. In addition to New York, California, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Oregon, Minnesota, and Washington reportedly are all in various stages.

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