On Sunday night's episode of HBO's Last Week Tonight, John Oliver turned his attention to the contentious issue of redistricting across the United States, a battle that has intensified as the 2022 midterm elections approach. Oliver highlighted how both Republicans and Democrats are manipulating electoral maps to secure partisan advantages, often at the expense of minority representation.
Texas and California: A Tit-for-Tat in Redistricting
In Texas, Republicans currently hold 25 of 38 congressional seats, and proposed redistricting could increase that number to 30. In response, California passed Proposition 50, redrawing districts in a way that could cost Republicans five seats. Meanwhile, Missouri and Louisiana are also undergoing redistricting. Oliver quipped, “This is the only comedy show on TV you feel like you should have studied more for.”
“It’s been predicted that, thanks to this latest batch of redistricting alone, Republicans could gain between three and 12 more seats in Congress than they would have otherwise done,” Oliver said. “Which is significant, because the last election gave them just a five-seat majority.”
Breaking Up Majority-Black Districts
Many of the fights center on dismantling majority-black districts, with chaos erupting in Tennessee after a law passed to dissolve the state’s only such district. Oliver reacted to footage of a protester burning a printout of the Confederate flag, saying, “It effectively communicates two things: one, that we won’t stand for our rights being stripped away; and two, I’m mad enough to put up with some pretty weird looks from a Staples employee when we printed this out.”
The practice of gerrymandering, as Oliver explained, “has been a problem in the US for centuries.” He called redistricting a way of “putting a heavy thumb on the scale of who gets elected.” Last summer, Donald Trump told the media he wanted five more Republican seats in Texas, and Governor Greg Abbott swiftly signed a new congressional map delivering exactly that number.
California and Virginia Countermoves
California Governor Gavin Newsom responded with a plan to redraw the state’s map, giving Democrats five more seats—essentially offsetting Texas’s gain. While Newsom’s proposal passed easily, “by the time that happened, more red states had already entered the fray,” with Missouri and North Carolina redistricting to increase Republican seats. Virginia then countered with an aggressive proposal that would give Democrats 10 seats and just one to Republicans. Locals sold “Texas Started It” bumper stickers, but the Virginia Supreme Court overruled the proposal on technicalities.
Supreme Court Limits Voting Rights Act
In April 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a historic decision limiting the Voting Rights Act, ending protections for minority voters in seven states and making many majority-black districts vulnerable. After a group of 12 self-identified “non African American voters” claimed the Louisiana map injured their “personal dignity,” the state’s governor implemented measures to redraw the map, eliminating one of two majority-black districts. “So right now, only one of the state’s six districts is majority black, despite the fact that its population is around one-third black,” Oliver noted. “History shows that without majority-black districts, black candidates in Louisiana basically have no chance of being elected.”
Tennessee and Florida Follow Suit
Soon after, Tennessee approved a new map splitting the majority-black city of Memphis into three districts, while Florida passed a map that could add three to four Republican seats. All told, Republicans stand to gain up to 12 House seats in November, making the “margin for Democrats meaningfully smaller,” said Oliver. “In the coming years, Republicans in southern states could ultimately eliminate majority-minority districts altogether, taking America back to the Jim Crow era, where there were no black representatives in southern states with majority-black populations.”
Living Memory of Progress Being Undone
“For those who fought so hard for their voting rights, watching them get stripped away this fast is brutal. It is worth remembering: the progress that’s currently being undone happened in living memory for many,” Oliver emphasized.
Call for Supreme Court Reform
Oliver ended by looking to reform. “A new voting rights law isn’t going to mean much if the supreme court just steps in to undo it. This is why we need significant supreme court reform. There’s actually a House bill that would be a start there, providing each president equal opportunities to appoint justices by establishing staggered 18-year term limits to the court.”
