GOP power grab puts voting rights advocates in a bind

Good government advocates are stuck in a bind, as Republicans in Texas push to squeeze five more Republican seats out of their state with new maps, and Democrats in states where anti-gerrymandering reforms have taken hold look to fight back with new maps of their own.

“They’ve triggered this response and we’re not going to roll over and we’re going to fight fire with fire,” Gov. Gavin Newsom told reporters regarding his plan to push through new district maps in California in response to the GOP’s effort to push through new maps in Texas.

Indeed, President Donald Trump’s directive to Texas Republicans, insisting they draw new maps to give themselves more House seats — and potentially extend their House majority indefinitely, whether or not Democrats make gains in the popular vote — has se