When they go low, we hit back hard… Maximum warfare, everywhere, all the time.
~Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), House Minority Leader
Jeffries made this comment in statement shared by Punchbowl News last night after Democrats successfully passed a referendum to redraw district lines in Virginia.
The statement represents a sharp turn for a party which, as Jeffries noted, “many expected… to roll over and play dead.”
Instead, in Jeffries words, they “did the opposite…[they] fought back.” In so doing, they turned Michelle Obama’s oft-cited mantra “when they go low, we go high” on its head.
The first inkling that Trump’s redistricting wars were going to play out this way came in California where, despite enormous pressure, Democrats were not willing to ‘unilaterally disarm’ or be cowed by those who warned about the “escalation of political gamesmanship” and argued that “two wrongs don’t make a right.” With leadership from Gov. Gavin Newsom and support of 64% of voters, California temporarily adopted the new ‘Democratic-friendly’ map giving the party potentially 5 seats and, in the process, wiping out the GOP’s five seat gain in Texas.
For anyone keeping score, as of today, the mid-decade redistricting war is either a wash or narrow advantage Democrats. IF voters in the redrawn districts vote the way intended (and that’s not a certainty), Democrats now have ten additional seats (5 in California, 1 in Utah, 4 in Virginia) to the Republicans nine (5 in Texas, 2 in Ohio, 1 each in North Carolina and Missouri).
That’s the scorecard as of today, but the redistricting wars are not over. Florida, which many people see as the final place where the GOP can potentially pick up a few more seats, is up next. Gov. Ron DeSantis has called for a special session to redraw the maps next week. In this environment, however, that is a dangerous game.
Republicans in Florida, like Republicans across the country, have not performed well in elections over the last year. Just a month ago a Democrat flipped the state legislative district that is also home to Trump’s beloved Mara Lago. Not only did Trump endorse the Republican in that race, but the GOP carried it by 19 points in 2024.
This was just one of many impressive wins by Democrats in the sunshine state over the several months. Another was the race for Miami mayor which Democrats won for the first time in thirty years.
All of this has made some in the GOP question whether it makes sense to redraw the states’ maps now, or if this could end of backfiring? Already some in Texas have suggested they have buyers remorse because their newly drawn map may cost them seats in the end.
Whatever the outcome, the Democratic party’s willingness to meet the GOP head on is something that the base has been demanding and Jeffries, his predecessor Rep. Nancy Pelosi, former President Barack Obama, former Attorney General Eric Holder, Gov’s. Newsom (CA), Abigail Spanbereger (VA), Wes Moore (MD) and Tony Evers (WI), are just some of the many Democrats who deserve credit for successfully leading the charge against unilateral disarmament.
