Is political gerrymandering illegal? 6 things to know as Texas dispute carries on Politics Aug 4, 2025 5:00 PM EDT

When Democratic lawmakers left Texas to try to prevent the Republican-led Legislature from redrawing the state’s congressional districts , it marked the latest episode in a long national history of gerrymandering.

The word “gerrymander” was coined in America more than 200 years ago as an unflattering means of describing political manipulation in legislative map-making.

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The word has stood the test of time, in part, because American politic

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