New England Democrats maintain control of all 21 House seats across six states through gerrymandering, drawing criticism for the imbalance despite the region’s Republican presence.
Redistricting is the hottest story in America just at the moment, as state legislators have fled Texas, some to New England, to stop a vote to change the congressional map in the Lone Star State, and likely give Republicans five more House seats in Washington D.C.
DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST SAYS PARTY LACKS ‘MORAL AUTHORITY’ ON TEXAS REDISTRICTING FIGHT
But when it comes to drawing districts in order to shut out the minority party, which is really what gerrymandering is, New England Democrats have a perfect record: There 21 House seats spread over six states and not one single GOP representative.
Frankly, a Republican would be about as likely to win a House race in 1860 Mississippi as one in New England in 2025.
Democrats will counter that it is a very liberal region, or that no map could be made in a state like Massachusetts to accommodate a GOP seat. But in fact, there are millions of Republicans in New England. President Trump nearly won New Hampshire in 2024 and Maine has a Republican senator (at least sort of) in Susan Collins.
It wasn’t all that long ago that the former Republican governor of Massachusetts became the GOP presidential nominee in the form of Mitt Romney, so it’s not like New England is devoid of conservatives, they just don’t get any representation.
The only other region that comes close to this kind of congressional imbalance is the Great Plains, with only three Democrats out of 18 House seats. But then again, it’s not Republicans who are calling gerrymandering such a threat to democracy that laws must be broken to stop it.
And, to borrow a phrase from a 1980s anti-drug ad,