Email, Kelsey Crow, press secretary, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, Nov. 18, 2013
2:51 pm
NBC Nightly News, October 14, 2013 focused on redistricting. The excerpt below begins at about the 7 minute mark on this link:
http://www.nbcnews.com/video/full-broadcast/53280675#53280675
NBC Nightly News
“When Republicans won the majority of statehouses in 2010, it ensured they would be redrawing the maps in those states. And lo and behold, it paid off in 2012. Nationwide, Democrats running for Congress got 1.1 million more votes, but Republicans sent 33 more Members to the House. But it’s not just Republicans who draw safe districts. Democrats do it, too.”
And, there has already been a Politifact finding of “mostly true” on a related statement by Rep. Steny Hoyer.
That investigation included testimony from a nonpartisan expert that Republican control of congressional district-drawing was an “unprecedented” factor that helps to explain the Republican Majority:
In the very sentence preceding the single sentence that you quote, the Congressman refers to the redistricting process as having “had a significant impact ….” He asked me to forward this further comment from him: “I spoke about a number of factors that explain the composition and conduct of the current Congress. Redistricting looms large among them as a very significant factor. Gerrymandering has only reinforced obstructionists.”
While certainly respecting the Brennan Center for Justice, its assessment of partisan district composition changes appears to be a bit more narrow and does not consider how the latest round of redistricting may have only built upon prior rounds of gerrymandering. In all of Texas, that particular assessment counts only a single district, TX-27 (Rep. Blake Farenthold), in its overall conclusion.
Thanks,
Kelsey