Former New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu warned that redistricting ahead of the 2026 elections would be a “huge mistake” for both Republicans and Democrats, saying it would disincentivize voters.
Republicans are looking to redraw congressional maps for Texas, Ohio, and other states the party is on good terms with ahead of the 2026 midterm elections in a bid to retain the majority in the House of Representatives. The move prompted criticism from prominent Democrats including Govs. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and J.B. Pritzker (D-IL), who indicated they could take similar action with their own states.
Sununu, however, said this action is a major mistake “on both sides.”
“When you have elected officials almost going out saying, ‘It’s time that we gerrymander and we just stand behind it and own it,’ that’s a huge problem because no American is going to get behind it,” Sununu said on The Hill Sunday with Chris Stirewalt.
“I’m sorry, Gavin. No Californian wants to know that their votes are gerrymandered to the point where they really don’t matter, right? ‘Cause it disincentivizes everybody to come out and voting,” Sununu said.
The former Republican governor predicted that whichever party drops this tactic first will win the public’s favor. He suggested Republicans could say they spoke about redistricting in “generic terms,” and be “very vocal” against gerrymandering.
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Sununu added that the party should back away from redistricting and “pin it on Gavin Newsom and J.B. Pritzker” in the hopes either of them run for president in 2028 since “they would both be so easy to beat.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), meanwhile, is welcoming the redistricting effort in Texas, telling reporters it could “open up four to six swing seat opportunities” that currently do not exist to Texas Democrats. Jeffries’s party only needs to flip three seats to retake control of the House.