The congressional maps are all but set for the 2018 elections. But for those on the front lines of a simmering battle over the next decade of elections, the results are about more than who will control the next Congress. This year’s election season could reveal just how much the current districts have entrenched an advantage for one political party over the other, whether courts will step in to stop state lawmakers from creating such partisan districts, and which party will control crucial local offices ahead of a nationwide redistricting based on the 2020 census. The National Democratic Redistricting Committee — a new group led by former Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. that aims to spend $30 million this cycle — has targeted 20 legislative chambers, nine gubernatorial races and other races it considers the “most important for shifting the balance of power in the redistricting process.”
“This is a critical election year for redistricting because it is the first cycle where the officials elected will serve during the redistricting process in 2021,” the Democratic group said.
The group spent money in two Minnesota special statehouse elections in February. And it supported a Democratic-preferred candidate in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election in April who it says will help defend the right to vote in that state.
Full Article: Fiercest Fight of the Midterms May Be the One for Maps.