Americans live with many oddities in our political system. We hand the White House to candidates who lost the election by popular vote count. We elect sheriffs and judges like it's still the Wild West. We tolerate Senate rules that allow 41 members to block the will of 59. But of the various artifacts of American political exceptionalism, none so reliably damages democracy as gerrymandering.

This weekend brought yet another illustration: Democratic lawmakers in Texas fled the state to prevent a vote on a Republican redistricting plan that would carve five new districts in ways that dilute minority and urban representation, effectively guaranteeing GOP congressional gains in 2026. Governor Greg Abbott responded with threats of arrest. Attorney General Ken Paxton floated declaring

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