Apparently, Gov. Sherrill is weighing whether New Jersey should follow other states in redrawing voting district lines. Texas started the race with Trump’s encouragement. California followed, as did Virginia. Now, thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court, Louisiana can proceed with a new redistricting map even as voting is underway. It’s been called a mess. A stronger word would fit better.
Will more states, emboldened by that decision, try to deny Black voters the chance to elect candidates of their choosing? Or shift them into districts where Black candidates are unlikely to prevail? This is not to say Black voters do not support white candidates, or that white voters do not support Black candidates.
But history tells us to be skeptical. That skepticism helped drive passage of the Voting Rights Act, approved by a bipartisan Congress during Lyndon Johnson’s presidency, when civil rights were routinely violated. Its objective was clear: To make the right to vote meaningful by ensuring the ability to elect a representative of one’s choice.
Which brings me to gerrymandering and its origin.
Gerrymandering is the political manipulation of electoral district boundaries to advantage a party, group, or class. We understand what it does. But where did the term come from?
The story is striking, even if today’s reality runs counter to what Elbridge Gerry sought to protect. Gerry, a Founding Father, refused to sign the Constitution he helped shape. Confusing, yes. The term bearing his name stems from his tenure as governor of Massachusetts, when he signed a redistricting bill. Yet at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, he hesitated because he believed the document failed to safeguard private citizens and left them vulnerable to executive power and self-interested demagogues.
Gerry was prescient.
“The people do not want virtue,” he said at the Convention, “but are the dupes of pretended patriots.” He argued successfully for including impeachment provisions in the Constitution, and his advocacy influenced James Madison’s push for the Bill of Rights, a key check on federal power. Gerry later ran with Madison as vice president in 1812.
I prefer to view him as a contributor of essential constitutional safeguards who erred in approving a redistricting plan designed to secure his party’s advantage in Massachusetts. He was reluctant, pressured, and ultimately relented—much to his regret.
The Library of Congress notes that Gerry signed the Declaration of Independence, served two terms in the House of Representatives, was governor of Massachusetts, and later vice president under Madison. Yet his name became synonymous with political manipulation, fueled by a cartoon depicting a contorted salamander—“the gerrymander.”
Gerry was flawed; he succumbed to party pressure. But he believed in good governance and stood on the right side of history when he pressed for constitutional protections that endure. They may matter now more than ever.