By: Brian Evans
I’ve never been a fan of political gerrymandering. It’s frustrating to watch whichever party is in power draw lines not to reflect voters, but to entrench itself in power. But after decades of one-sided advantage, it’s time Republicans rebalanced the scales that Democrats so skillfully tipped. What we’re seeing today—especially in Missouri—isn’t Republicans creating an unfair system, but finally fixing one.
- How Democrats Built an Unfair Advantage
For years, Democrats have used the Census and district maps as political weapons. They fought to ensure all residents, including illegal immigrants, were counted in the Census. That handed states like California, Illinois, Massachusetts, and New York extra congressional seats and Electoral College votes—even though many of those counted aren’t eligible to vote.
*Estimated effect of including illegal immigrants (2020 Census):
*All immigrants (legal & illegal): ~14 extra seats for Democratic states.
*Including U.S.-born minor children of immigrants: ~18 seats.
*Undocumented immigrants only: ~2 seats for Democratic states.
*If unauthorized immigrants were excluded: CA, FL, TX would each lose ~1 seat; OH, MN, AL would gain seats.
This explains Democrats’ relentless push for open borders and sanctuary policies. Not only do these policies undermine the rule of law, they draw illegal immigrants into blue states and cities—padding population numbers, boosting seats in Congress, and tilting the Electoral College.
Once those inflated numbers were locked in, Democrat-run states began carving maps that deliberately diluted Republican power far into the future, as to ensure Democrat power, regardless of the will of the citizens. California is a glaring example: GOP voters make up around 40% of the electorate, yet Republicans hold just 9 out of 52 congressional seats. The same story plays out in New York, Massachusetts, and Illinois, and a number of other blue states!
- Republicans in Missouri Are Correcting the Map
Missouri highlights the imbalance perfectly. For decades, Democrats controlled the map by concentrating liberal voters in St. Louis and Kansas City, effectively watering down rural voters’ voices.
Now Gov. Mike Kehoe is calling a special session to redraw those lines fairly—reflecting Missouri’s population shifts and ensuring rural communities aren’t ignored. This isn’t about silencing cities; it’s about giving all Missourians a voice. After decades of Democrats skewing the system, Republicans are simply restoring balance.
In fact, for much of the 20th century, Democrats controlled Missouri’s redistricting process and used it to their advantage. With majorities in the state legislature and Democratic governors signing off, they protected urban strongholds in St. Louis and Kansas City while minimizing rural Republican influence. After the 2000 Census, when Missouri lost a congressional seat, Democratic Gov. Bob Holden’s administration ensured the map preserved safe Democratic seats in the cities while forcing consolidation in Republican-heavy rural districts. At the time, Missouri voters were already trending Republican—George W. Bush won the state in both 2000 and 2004 by comfortable margins, and Republicans controlled most statewide offices by the mid-2000s. Yet Democrats still managed to hold onto half of Missouri’s congressional delegation because of the way the lines were drawn.
The same pattern repeated after 2010. Even though Republicans swept statewide races in 2010 and took a commanding majority in the state legislature, Democrats fought to preserve their strongholds and overweight urban representation in St. Louis and Kansas City. For example, in 2012, Mitt Romney carried Missouri by nearly 10 points, but Democrats still held three out of the state’s eight congressional seats thanks to favorable districting.
At both the congressional and state legislative levels, Democrats relied on “packing and cracking”—crowding Republicans into sprawling rural districts while carving up urban centers to maximize Democratic representation. This gave disproportionate influence to cities and diluted the voice of rural voters. Republicans argue that the current push to redraw Missouri’s maps isn’t about silencing Democrats, but about undoing decades of gerrymandering that Democrats used to entrench their power.
- Meanwhile, Democrats Are Losing Support and Money As Americans Grow Tired of Their Lies and Manipulation
Democrats’ strategy isn’t working with voters anymore. According to Gallup, only 34% of Americans now view Democrats favorably—their lowest rating since 1992. Meanwhile, Pew data shows over 60% of Democrats feel their side is “losing more than winning,” reflecting collapsing morale.
Fundraising has also dropped. Small-dollar donations that fueled Democrats in 2018 and 2020 are drying up, while Republicans are gaining ground in both grassroots and large-dollar contributions.
Why? Because voters are fed up with corruption, radical policies, mismanagement, and the manipulation of the system through illegal immigration and Census games.
- The Electoral College Is Shifting Against Democrats As Americans Turn Against Them
The New York Times recently sounded the alarm: by 2032, Democrats face a potential Electoral College disaster. The WLT Report summarized it—projecting that population trends and the loss of padded Census numbers could shift +14 Electoral College votes to red states, shrinking Democrats’ possible winning combinations from 25 to just 5.
In other words, the decades-long strategy of counting non-voters and gaming maps is collapsing. Voters are moving to red and purple states, and Democrats can’t rely on artificial advantages forever.
This lopsided system has warped the Electoral College for far too many years, giving Democrats unfair weight and making it harder for Republicans to win, even with a majority of voters support and thus with more votes.
Final Thoughts
I don’t celebrate gerrymandering. A fair system should give voters—not parties—the power to choose representatives. But Republicans aren’t the ones who created this rigged game. Democrats did—through Census manipulation, open-border policies, and aggressive map-drawing.
What Republicans are doing now is not entrenching themselves—it’s leveling the playing field. If Democrats want to win going forward, they’ll have to do it the right way: by governing responsibly, earning trust, and competing on ideas rather than distortions, as they have for years.
Sources:
Missouri redistricting story:
https://apnews.com/article/33bfdc8790cdf8201d80c8c89258df3d
Texas redistricting:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/29/texas-governor-greg-abbott-signs-redistricting-bill
Missouri redistricting analysis:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/08/29/house-redistricting-missouri/
Representation disparities:
https://apnews.com/article/2d17b15c404e13946f7e8d60c17d3b74
Gallup poll on Democrats’ favorability:
https://news.gallup.com/poll/511194/democratic-party-favorability-drops-1992-low.aspx
Pew report on Democrats’ morale:
https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2023/11/09/partisan-confidence-in-elections/
NYT/WLT Report on Electoral College shift, based on NYT Report:
https://wltreport.com/2025/08/27/nyt-sounds-alarm-democrats-face-electoral-college-disaster/
Brian Evans for Joplin 