Tuesday on CNN’s “The Lead,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) said he did not support Texas Republicans’ effort to redraw their congressional map because it was “wrong.”
Host Jake Tapper said, “What’s going on now is this there’s about to be an eruption of this, because not only are California and New York, Democratic states, threatening to do it, Trump is trying to push Missouri and Ohio as next states, Republican states, to try to squeeze out a few more Republican seats. Wouldn’t you like it all to stop? What is your message to President Trump and party leaders?”
Lawler said, “The problem is, across the country, gerrymandering has been happening after each successive Census. And it has created less competitive districts. And so there’s very little room in terms of trying to pick up seats. So yes, I think it’s wrong what Texas is doing. I don’t support it.”
He added, “We have to actually have neutral districts across this country. It would serve the country better. I am going to be introducing legislation to outright ban gerrymandering, let alone during mid-decade redistricting, but to not allow it at all. This is fundamentally why Congress is broken. You do not have competitive districts, and so most members are focused on primaries and not actually engaging in a general election.”
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