Have you heard the one about Gerry and the salamander? And what about Donald and his toads?
Have you heard the one about Gerry and the salamander? And what about Donald and his toads?
First, Gerry: Elbridge Thomas Gerry was one of the founding fathers of the US and governor of Massachusetts in 1812 when voting districts were redrawn for the benefit of his political party.
One of these new districts was so contorted that it looked like a salamander, and thus the phrase gerrymander was born, where political maps are cynically redrawn to manipulate the will of the people (although poor Elbridge was opposed to the practice).
Fast-forward to South Africa,1948, where a version of gerrymandering – technically “malapportionment” which gave smaller rural populations more sway than urban voters – pushed DF Malan’s National Party to power by five seats, even though they carried only 37% of the count, as opposed to the more moderate United Party’s almost 50%.
Thus, apartheid was born. Today, in the US, gerrymandering is not so much a glitch in the system, though; it is the system. Ever wondered why there’s, say, a North Dakota and a South Dakota? Well, dig a little deeper and it’s notable that the previous Dakota Territory was split on joining the Union, because the US constitution grants each state two senators, meaning division would guarantee four, instead of two. And so it remains.
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This is why the most highly populated state, California, has the same representation in the Senate as the least populous Wyoming, even though California has nearly 70 times the people. If you live in Wyoming, your voice is as loud as 67 voices from California.
And now here we are in 2025, where gerrymandering has become Trump-toadying as the Republican Party in Texas blatantly redraw constituency maps at Trump’s behest so that in next year’s midterm elections, the Republicans should gain an additional five Congressional seats. For the record, Texas has 38 seats and Republicans hold 25 of these, already a three-seat over-representation after taking 58% of the vote in 2024.
Meanwhile in California, Democratic governor Gavin Newsom is trying to neuter this flagrant gerrymandering – this trumptoadying – by redrawing his constituency lines to give five more seats back to Democrats.
We’ll call this Newsomnewting, with apologies to amphibians everywhere. Anyway, it’s just another day in the swamp…
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