Washington Examiner investigations editor Sarah Bedford said that while Republicans might not have enough time to redistrict ahead of the midterm elections, it will “level the playing field” for the GOP “long term.”
Bedford’s remarks come after the Supreme Court struck down race-based redistricting in Louisiana, ruling in a 6-3 decision that the second black-majority congressional district was created in violation of the Constitution.
“Long term, for 2028 and beyond, this is a really bright spot for Republicans to start again, even the playing field for themselves,” Bedford said Wednesday on The Hugh Hewitt Show.
Republicans could use the Supreme Court ruling from Wednesday as justification to redraw congressional maps in other states.
But Bedford explained Republicans might not see the impacts of the redrawn maps in the midterm elections.
“For the midterms, it could end up being a wash,” Bedford said. “Some of the states in the South, like Alabama and Georgia, that potentially could redistrict because of the Voting Rights Act victory here at the Supreme Court, they might not have time because primaries are coming up in May or in the summer.”
The ruling comes amid a redistricting battle between Republicans and Democrats to gain more control across the country
Govs. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) successfully got voters in their states to pass ballot measures to redraw the congressional maps.
The Democratic governors pushed for the measures after President Donald Trump urged Texas lawmakers to redraw their map in a way that could shift five seats toward Republicans. North Carolina and Missouri also adjusted their maps to net more seats for the GOP.
Bedford said Republicans would “come out on top” if the GOP used every gerrymandering mechanism.
“If every single state fired every single bullet in the chamber that they had left when it came to gerrymandering, Republicans would come out on top because they’ve just done it less historically than Democrats,” Bedford said.
Bedford said Democrats have already “really aggressively” gerrymandered states, pointing to Massachusetts and Illinois.
SUPREME COURT ALLOWS TEXAS’S PRO-GOP REDISTRICTING TO STAND
“Those states are already insanely gerrymandered, and while they might be able to squeeze out like a seat here, a seat there, it’s Republicans who have a lot more juice in the lemon left, as JD Vance put it when he’s talked about this,” she said.
“So this is not a war Democrats wanted to get started, and now, thanks to this Voting Rights Act, Republicans have a lot more room to maneuver that just wasn’t there before.”