The Democrats botched the messaging on the gerrymandering issue in Texas. Arrest warrants have been issued for the Democratic state representatives who fled to stop a new map from being pushed through, and now the FBI has the green light to hunt them down. Some fled to Illinois, one of the most gerrymandered states in the country. It’s nothing new—both parties do it.
The problem is that Democrats have tapped out all their gerrymandering potential in blue states. It’s legal, everyone does it, and it’s time we stop being shy about it. One Republican decided to be the lone dissenter and say essentially that what was happening in Texas was too mean or something. Meet Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT), someone we know we can’t rely on in a fight (via The Salt Lake Tribune):
Utah Rep. Blake Moore says he opposes efforts by Texas lawmakers to redraw congressional boundaries in the Lone Star State in a bid to gain safe Republican seats and shore up a tenuous GOP majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“I do not agree with state efforts to redistrict mid-decade,” Moore said in a statement to The Salt Lake Tribune. “It undermines established norms and gives Blue States a glaring green light to do the same. Partisan gerrymandering is clearly done by both sides, but to allow this wildfire to spread mid-decade is a step too far.”
Democratic state lawmakers in Texas have fled the state in order to prevent the Republican-dominated Legislature from having enough members present to go through with their plan to draw new congressional boundaries. Republicans hope to gain up to five GOP congressional seats in the 2026 election.
Mike Davis, a former law clerk for Neil Gorsuch, had the best tweet regarding this reaction:
This pussy—@RepBlakeMoore—is really in House Republican leadership?
— 🇺🇸 Mike Davis 🇺🇸 (@mrddmia) August 8, 2025
Why?? https://t.co/nFGhg9e2Au
A touch indelicate, but he’s not wrong.