00:00As I think most of you know, I have been very strongly opposed to this redistricting war,
00:07this epidemic of gerrymandering across the country, whether in Texas or California or Indiana
00:14or now Virginia. I think it's a terrible thing for democracy. It's a terrible thing for
00:19representative government. It represents partisanship run amok. I think it is both
00:26a symptom of our country's deepening partisan divisions and something that is sure to make
00:33those divisions even worse. So, you know, I've tried to oppose this in every way possible.
00:40I, of course, introduced legislation to simply stop all mid-decade redistricting, which isn't
00:46supposed to happen in any event. And in trying to think about what I could do to try to make
00:52the
00:52situation better, I reached a decision that since gerrymandering seeks to elevate partisanship
01:01above everything else in our politics and governance, seeks to make it the sum and substance
01:06of our politics, then the best way to counter gerrymandering and its insidious impacts on democracy
01:16is simply to take partisanship out of the equation. So this last week, we registered under no party
01:25preference in California. And accordingly, I asked for that designation, as required by law, actually,
01:35on the ballot in running for re-election in the new sixth congressional district.
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