The Left is Good Governing Itself into Obscurity

Virginia nullified three million votes overnight while Republicans go on a redistricting spree with no restraint. I saw this coming a mile away.

The Virginia Supreme Court just struck down a congressional map drawn by Democrats that wipes out four left-leaning districts, which voters just approved. In a 4-3 decision, the court nullified 3 million votes overnight, on a technicality. It’s too inane to even get into, but the broad strokes are that Republicans successfully argued there was a constitutional violation that invalidated the vote redrawing the maps.

But on the topic of constitutional violations, how about we look at the Republican-run states across the South that are unilaterally redrawing maps essentially because Trump told them to. The question of following proper procedure went out the window a long time ago— at least for the GOP.

This is the kind of asymmetrical warfare I’ve been waving my hands at for what feels like an eternity at this point. The Virginia case is just the latest example of it. Congressional maps have become the battlefield, and Democrats’ tactic is to put redistricting to a vote, while Republicans just… do it.

Last week’s Supreme Court ruling obliterating the Voting Rights Act didn’t help. I talked in my last post about the chain reaction the ruling set off across the South: Florida redrew its maps within hours. Louisiana cancelled an election in progress; 42,000 votes had already been cast. In Tennessee, Nashville and Memphis have been completely disenfranchised.

And now you have the starkest example of the Democrats’ “put it to a vote” strategy in Virginia. They got three million people to vote in the redistricting referendum. And look where that got them.

For too long, the left has been so desperate to practice “good government” that they’re good governing themselves into obscurity. Meanwhile, the right has no issues whatsoever with flaunting their blatant pursuit of power. Republicans drew 191 districts in 2024. Democrats, with their votes and procedures, managed to take only 75.

I saw this coming. I feel like we’ve been tied to the train tracks by a mustache-twirling villain while the train’s been barreling towards us for months. I’m thinking back to about eight months ago, when I did one of the most contentious interviews I’ve had in a long time. Texas had just answered Trump’s call to go on a redistricting spree and Gavin Newsom had pushed through Prop 50 to combat their efforts by circumventing California’s independent redistricting commission to redraw the maps. I sat down with Colorado Governor Jared Polis, a Democrat in a state with its own independent redistricting commission and I asked if he would follow Newsom’s lead and step up in the fight against the Republican efforts to rig the system.

He said, “no.” At least twice.

Polis wanted to lean on politics as usual, and put it to the voters. “Trust the process.” I tried in vain to get him to see the urgency of the moment. Eight months later, the moment has passed. Polis is term-limited, and I can only hope that the next governor recognizes what’s at stake.

This isn’t the time for process. We don’t have the luxury of time for votes. “Good government theater” isn’t getting us anywhere. It’s not good enough to get caught trying. We need to succeed, because this is existential. The window to save this democracy is closing, but it’s not closed. If our elected officials don’t have the stomach, they need to step aside.

So what needs to happen now - and it needs to happen now - is that Democrat-led states need to set aside procedure and redraw the maps. New York, New Jersey, Washington, Oregon, Illinois, Maryland, and - yes you - Colorado need to get to work and get it done. Do it in 2026 if possible. By 2028 is non-negotiable. There is no excuse for waiting. I don’t want to hear about practicing good government, because you know what’s not ‘good government’? Letting our democracy slide into autocracy. Step up or step aside.