Zoe Lofgren Defends California Redistricting In Response To Texas GOP Gerrymandering

4 months ago

On Sunday, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) spoke to CNN about proposed redistricting in California in response gerrymandering by Texas Republicans.

Transcript

00:00Thank you so much for joining me today.

00:02Happy to do it.

00:04Absolutely. So there are lots of questions about what California plans to do to redraw the district

00:09lines for House seats in the midterms. And I know the California House speaker has promised to unveil

00:15these maps this coming week, but you've had a key role in these discussions. So what can you tell

00:20our viewers about what the plan is in California to give your party more seats in the House?

00:25Well, first, let me say that we, as a state, embraced independent redistricting commissions.

00:34And we weren't looking, any of us, to change our seats. But when Texas and Trump

00:41moved forward to rig the next election, we decided to take a look at what we might do in response.

00:49And the first question was, could you even, consistent with the Voting Rights Act,

00:54because that's a value we're not willing to trample on, could you actually pick up five

01:01Republican seats? And looking at it, we discovered that, yes, indeed, you could. Consistent with the

01:07Voting Rights Act, put five Republican seats in play. We are working with the state legislators,

01:17the leadership there, as well as the governor. We've had several discussions with some members

01:24that they've designated to work with us. And we're sharing the information we have. Of course,

01:29they're the ones that have to legally adopt maps. But I think we're a team effort on this.

01:37And the delegation has looked at what's possible. And I say, we're unanimous that we

01:43want to move forward. We can't allow California to be attacked continually by Trump without a

01:51response. I mean, he's stripped millions of Californians from their health care.

01:56Congresswoman, we've heard that these five Republicans in particular are going to be

02:00targeted by this plan. That includes Congressman Ken Calvert, Daryl Issa, Kevin Kiley,

02:05David Valadeo, and Doug LaMalfa. Is that accurate?

02:08Well, I'm just going to let the legislators reveal their proposals next week. But, you know,

02:17there's only nine Republicans in California. So that's a pretty good guess.

02:23Yeah. I mean, could there be a sixth Republican targeted potentially,

02:26like Republican Young Kim, who represents parts of Orange County?

02:30Well, I'm just going to let the Speaker of the Assembly and the Pro Tem

02:35go ahead and release the data next week. I don't want to step on their lines.

02:41But I think our goal has been, number one, to be consistent with the Voting Rights Act.

02:47Also, to keep in mind the principles that our commission

02:51utilized, trying to keep cities and counties together and the like,

02:56and then to match what Texas did, which is the five seats.

02:59Congressman, last year, more than six million voters in California actually voted

03:04for Donald Trump. He won nearly 40 percent of the vote in your state. But if you have your way,

03:10your party has your way, there will just be four of the 52 seats in the U.S. House delegation

03:15occupied by a Republican. So I'm wondering, are you concerned at all that those six million voters

03:21could be disenfranchised in your state?

03:23We are going to put whatever map is agreed to on the ballot. California voters will make that decision,

03:33not our delegation and not the legislature. But going back to my first comment,

03:40we did not initiate this. Trump and the Republicans are not only targeting Texas,

03:47they're now talking about Ohio, perhaps Indiana, Florida, to try and rig this election. And we're

03:55not just going to sit back and do nothing in response to that.

03:58And I understand your argument that you are responding to Texas. But look, if both parties

04:02go down this road and gerrymandered district after district and state after state, as it seems that's

04:08where we're headed, it's general election voters and it's independent voters, Congresswoman,

04:14who could actually lose out here because the politicians are choosing their voters on which

04:19voters should participate in those elections. I'm wondering, are you concerned? Isn't that

04:23dangerous for democracy?

04:26We are for independent commissions. In fact, I'm the author of the bill in the House of

04:31Representatives to require independent commissions in every state. When Democrats were in the majority,

04:37we actually included independent redistricting in our big reform measure, H.R.1. Not a single

04:43Republican voted for that. So, you know, Democrats are for that. But it's the Republicans that

04:50initiated this. If they stop, we'd be happy to stop and go to independent commissions in every state.

04:56And you mentioned that. So essentially, you're going against what you believe,

05:00are you not? And pushing this plan in California? You've been a champion on the independent commission.

05:06What I believe is that we should not be a punching bag for Donald Trump.

05:09The state of California is losing big because of Trump policies. He has refused to provide the

05:16disaster relief that every state gets. He's cut millions of Californians away from their health

05:21insurance. He took nutrition programs away from schools. He just reduced funding for science projects

05:28in every university in the state of California. So we're going to stand up for Californians. He needs

05:34a break. And that break will be Democrats controlling the House of Representatives after next year's

05:41election. And Congressman, I wonder, there are a lot of red states that haven't imposed the same kind

05:45of limits on gerrymandering that many blue states have. But now as we're in this arms race of sorts,

05:52do you think it was a mistake for Democrats to enact some of those restrictions and essentially

05:57unilaterally disarm? Well, we were happy with independent commissions. And as I say, we were

06:05trying to institute that across the United States. The Republicans stopped us from doing that when we

06:12were in the majority of the Senate blocked it. If we gain control again, which I hope we do,

06:19I would like to institute independent commissions for House seats in every state. That would be a

06:27goal of mine. But right now, it's not an option for Democrats to just be a punching bag for Donald

06:34Trump. So, Congressman, do you think that the outcome of this fight that's happening right now in state

06:39after state, this redistricting fight to redraw these House lines, do you think that this will decide the next

06:47House majority? I think the voters will decide the next House majority. And I do think, you know,

06:54they wouldn't be doing this if they weren't afraid of losing the House. But this is going to have a

06:59huge impact. But this is going to have a huge impact on the next majority, is it not? The outcome of this

07:06fight? They are in trouble because what they're doing is deeply unpopular in the United States,

07:12from the terrorists, which is crushing small businesses across the country, raising prices

07:18for ordinary Americans, taking health care away from Americans so they can give tax breaks to

07:25billionaires. Those are not popular policies. That's why they're engaging in this rigging,

07:31because they don't want to be held accountable. Our job is to hold them accountable.

07:36All right. Congressman Zoe Laughlin from California, thank you so much and

07:38joining me and sharing your perspective over this very, very significant fight.

07:42Thank you so much. Thank you.

Zoe Lofgren Defends California Redistricting In Response To Texas GOP Gerrymandering

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