Today on The BradCast: The horrible, racist, un-Constitutional SCOTUS-aided GOP Gerrymandering Wars are not over yet. And while the jury is still out for the moment, a few key Democrats, in one state at least, are already proving they may not have what it takes to answer the call of Jim Crow history today. [Audio to full show follows this summary.]
On yesterday’s program, we spoke in detail with TPM’s Kate Riga about the need for Democrats and other democracy fans to realize they are going to have to make some tough choices if American democracy is going to survive moving forward
Maryland‘s Democratic Governor Wes Moore has, for months now, been pushing his state’s Democratic dominated state Legislature to meet the historic moment of the unprecedented mid-decade Republican U.S. House gerrymandering campaign touched off by Trump and Texas last year. The facts on the ground have only gotten worse over the past several weeks following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 6 to 3 ruling by its majority racists in robes, striking down what they hadn’t already gutted of the Voting Rights Act in Louisiana v. Callais. The move by Virginia‘s Supreme Court last week to overturn last month’s vote by the people to draw a new map to give Democrats four more U.S. House seats has made things worse still, even as Southern Confederate states rush to redraw majority-minority districts out of existence even while primary voting is under way in several of those states.
But in Maryland, where Dems in the state Legislature could vote tonight, if they wanted to, to remove the last remaining Republican district in the state, Democratic state Senate President Bill Ferguson, who blocked an early effort last October, is still just not certain yet if it’s the right thing to do or not. For the record, Ferguson is up for reelection this year and facing a “tougher-than-expected” primary campaign from veteran Bobby LaPin. Gov. Moore, who was previously expected to endorse Ferguson, is holding out for now.
MD’s primaries are on June 23. That gives state lawmakers plenty of time — by Southern state standards, in any event — to create an 8 to 0 map and even suspend and reschedule their primaries if they have to. Just like the Southern states are now doing to steal the right of Black voters to elect a representative of their choosing.
Anyway…I’ve got quite a bit to say about all of this on today’s show. Tune in for it, please.
In the meantime, here are some of the stories and links referenced along the way, in advance of upcoming elections in Louisiana on Saturday and in Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Oregon and Pennsylvania next Tuesday…
- AP calls last Tuesday’s Democratic primary for progressive latina activist Debra Powell in Nebraska‘s so-called “Blue Dot” 2nd Congressional District, where Dems see a big opportunity for a pick-up in the wake of the retirement of Republican Don Bacon.
- Mississippi‘s Republican Governor Tate Reeves has generously decided to not toss out the will of the voters from the state’s March primary in order to erase the majority-minority House District that elected Rep. Bennie Johnson. But Reeves has now vowed to gerrymander the MS map before 2028 to end “Bennie G. Thompson’s reign of terror.”
- Georgia‘s termed-out Republican Governor Brian Kemp is calling a special legislative session next month to gerrymander the state for the 2028 election. Why next month for 2028? Because Kemp and Republicans fear they are likely to lose their legislative trifecta — and their chance to rig the Peach State’s maps — this November.
- In the meantime this week, Kemp signed a bill that would never have seen the light of day under the Voting Rights Act, to force District Attorneys like black Democratic D.A. Fani Willis in Fulton County, to run on ballots that do not reveal her party identification. The measure applies ONLY to the five Counties that make up the very “blue” Atlanta and surrounding areas, which have ALL elected Black Democratic women for their District Attorneys. (D.A.s in “red”, rural counties will still be allowed to run on partisan ballots under the new law.)
- Ed Kilgore at New York sums up “What Republicans Got Out of Their Gerrymandering Blitz” by concluding: “unless Democrats mount a serious comeback in the former Confederate states, the Black representation that so many people fought and died to secure is now very likely to slide back down toward Jim Crow levels.”
- Hope for Maryland to do the right thing for democracy, ironically enough, by gerrymandering their state before next month’s primary? Maybe. But still apparently a long shot. Take your time, boyz. No rush. I’m sure things will go well for you under autocracy.
- Some good elections and voting news to bring the week’s otherwise terrible news to a close, as a Montana court has nixed the state GOP’s attempt to end Election Day registration. The Native American Rights Fund sued and successfully beat back the attempted voter suppression law that would disproportionately burden Native communities in the state.
Finally, as if destroying democracy wasn’t enough. Republicans in the Trump Administration are still also hell bent on destroying the climate and jacking up the costs of your gas and electricity in the bargain, as discussed — with more than a few snarky comments — on today’s Green News Report with Desi Doyen…
