Proposal 1: Make Ending Gerrymandering Core to the Democratic Brand

If Democrats want to prove we are serious about democracy, this is where we start.

This is the first in a series of proposals I’ll be writing about how Democrats can rebuild trust with voters. The point of this series is not to offer another slogan or a softer version of the same old party message. The point is to name specific reforms Democrats should adopt if we want to prove to the country that we understand what went wrong, especially after 2024, and that we are willing to change the system even when that change applies to us.

South Carolina Republicans just tried to redraw the congressional map in the middle of an election year because Donald Trump wanted them to.

Then the Republican-controlled Senate killed it.

This was a rare moment when enough Republicans looked at a Trump-backed power grab -weighed the timing, the map, the political risk, and the damage to the state’s election process - and refused to go along.

Early voting had already begun. More than 32,000 South Carolinians had already cast their ballots by early Tuesday afternoon. The bill would have forced voters, candidates, and election officials into a new map on a new calendar because Donald Trump and Republican Party leaders in Washington are afraid of losing power in November.

This week’s Senate vote should end this fight in South Carolina for the year.

It should also begin a much bigger one nationally.

Many voters have always felt that the system was rigged, but the details were confusing enough for politicians to keep getting away with it. For years, gerrymandering sounded like something only lawyers, consultants, and political obsessives cared about. This year changed that.

Americans have watched state after state try to redraw congressional maps for one obvious reason: power.

Republicans started this latest arms race. Trump pushed Republican states to manufacture more seats before November, and Democrats have struggled to keep up. Some Democratic states responded with their own mid-decade efforts. I understand why. No party can be expected to unilaterally disarm while the other side rigs the board. But the country should not be trapped in an endless cycle where whichever party controls a statehouse gets to redraw democracy whenever it wants a better result.

The long-term answer is simple: politicians should not draw their own districts.

Democrats should make that a central promise in 2026 and 2028. Every Democratic candidate for every office should be able to say it clearly. Congressional districts should be drawn by independent redistricting commissions or a genuinely nonpartisan process in every state. The rules should apply to red states and blue states. The goal should be fair competition and competent, mainstream leadership — not incumbent or partisan protection.

This is how Democrats should talk about democracy reform. Less abstraction. Voters may not know every map term, but they understand self-dealing. They understand a rigged game. They understand that no one should get to design the boundaries of their own job security.

I have some history with this.

In 2018, I flipped South Carolina’s 1st District by about one point, becoming the first Democrat to represent the seat in 40 years. The district was already drawn to heavily favor Republicans. Trump had carried it by 13 points two years before I won it. Two years later, I lost it by about one point. Then Republicans looked at my district and made sure a Democrat would never be able to do what I had just done. They redrew it again, made it safer for themselves, and the next Democratic candidate lost by roughly 14 points.

Bottom line, this is not how things should work.

Democrats have real credibility here if we use it. One of the first bills I co-sponsored and voted for in Congress was H.R. 1, the For the People Act. It passed the Democratic House in 2019. Among other reforms, it would have required independent redistricting commissions for congressional districts. The Republican-controlled Senate never took it up.

Only one party has actually passed a federal bill to ban this game for everyone.

Now we should campaign on it like we mean it because people are fed up.

When voters think of Republicans, they know the brandDemocrats need a democracy reform that is just as clear. Ending gerrymandering should become part of what people understand Democrats stand for.

It would also make Congress healthier. More members would have to win general elections instead of coasting through them. More candidates would have to persuade independents, moderates, and people who do not already agree with them. More elected officials would have to answer to the broad middle of their districts instead of spending every day terrified of the loudest faction in their base.

And from a purely political perspective, this is a slam dunk issue for Democrats. An Economist/YouGov poll last month showed that only seven percent of Americans support partisan gerrymandering. In fact, it’s one of the few areas where Democratic and Republican voters agree. The poll showed overwhelming majorities of both parties oppose gerrymandering, 74% and 70%, respectively. Yet Republican leaders keep defending it. The opening is clear.

The South Carolina bill died because enough senators understood how reckless, late, and ham-fisted it was. Democrats should take the lesson national.

Make ending gerrymandering part of the Democratic brand. Put it in every campaign. Slap it on bumper stickers. Make every Republican candidate in America defend a system that lets politicians protect themselves before voters ever get a choice.

If Democrats want to prove we are serious about democracy, this is where we start: fair maps in every state, for both parties, once and for all.

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Want more from Joe? His new book, Life of the Party: How Democrats Lost America’s Trust — and How They Can Win It Back, is available for purchase now. It’s a sharp, honest argument for how Democrats can rebuild trust, speak plainly, and become a party voters are proud to support again.