Gerrymandering
May 12, 2026
The Supreme Court recently allowed states to redesign their congressional districts.* The intent is to expand a given political party’s advantage, based on the district’s population and current political persuasion. Political redistricting redefines the political power of Democrats and Republicans and overthrows the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The redesign of congressional districts is called gerrymandering.
The term gerrymander originated with a founding father named Elbridge Gerry, born in Marblehead Massachusetts in 1744. Gerry signed the Declaration of Independence, served as Governor of Massachusetts, and was Vice President under James Madison. He was initially a supporter of the Federalist party, favoring the Bill of Rights, but switched toward the Democratic-Republican party in the early 1800s.
When Gerry was Governor, Massachusetts adopted new state electoral districts. The intent was to expand the reach of the Democratic-Republican party over the Federalist party. This redistricted map created some weird-shaped districts, including Essex County. A cartoonist for a Federalist newspaper compared the outline of Essex County to a salamander, nicknaming it a Gerrymander, because Governor Gerry had approved the redistricting map.
The name stuck; the rest is history.
This week many states are revising their congressional districts to boost the strength of their Republican representatives at the detriment of Black and minority voters in the Democratic party. On Saturday a protest is planned for Birmingham Alabama in response to the recent Supreme Court ruling.
The recourse to this redistricting is to encourage massive voter turnout in the November election, the mid-terms. We saw what happened in Hungary when nearly 75% of registered voters turned out. We need to promote voter awareness and involvement in the coming election.
Vote for democracy even as we recall gerrymandering, named for Governor Elbridge Gerry.
Tom Dresser
*[Redistricting is supposed to occur every ten years in response to the national census. The Court ruled it could happen now, which gives Republican state legislatures the opportunity to redesign their state voting districts.]
The Resist flag is once more flying over East Chop.
Our town of Phillipston MA was originally named Gerry (for the governor) then renamed when Gov Eldridge Gerry broke his promise to pay for the windows in our church.
A good refresher—thanks, Tom. FYI plenty of people here in Louisiana are resisting, or trying to. Never thought I’d be rooting for the country to emulate Hungary, but here we are.