Suzan Delbene Says GOP Effort To Redraw Congressional Map In Texas Will Make Republicans More Vulnerable

At a House Democratic press briefing on Tuesday, Rep. Suzan Delbene (D-WA) spoke about the Republican push to redraw the congressional maps in Texas.

Transcript

00:00On redistricting, I mean, how much harder would it be for Democrats to retake the House if Republicans go ahead with redistricting in Texas?

00:10And then for that matter, do you want blue states to go ahead with mid-cephalic redistricting as well?

00:15You know, Republicans are running scared, and it's pretty clear that they know they can't win on their message with voters.

00:22They're not listening to them, so they're trying to rig the system, and they're going to try.

00:28They've brought this issue up in Texas. They shouldn't do it.

00:30They should be careful what they ask for because they will make Republicans more vulnerable, too,

00:35and we will compete in every single one of those districts.

00:39So Republicans will lose their job if this is the path that they go down, and the American people are against it.

00:46They want to make sure that it's not politicians trying to pick their voters, but voters actually get to pick their representatives.

00:58Let me add a California piece. I'll turn it over to the vice chair as well for his thoughts.

01:05It's our belief that we can't fight with one hand behind our backs.

01:09House Republicans passed this one big, ugly bill.

01:12It kicked 17 million people off of health insurance two weeks ago,

01:15and the first thing that they do after the celebratory high-fives at the White House

01:22is push forward redistricting efforts to hold on to power.

01:27It doesn't sound like a group that's very confident in the policy that they passed,

01:32so they want to rig the system.

01:36There should be a response.

01:37We can't let Texas go unanswered, and it's our belief that we should do whatever we can to protect democracy.

01:46We shouldn't stand on the sidelines while Republicans unwind districts in order to consolidate power

01:53to give Donald Trump even more ability to threaten our democracy and set aside the rule of law.

02:02In 2018, Democrats flipped the House by 40 seats.

02:07One reason it was such a big number is because Republicans thought they were smart

02:12when they did gerrymandered redistricting and made a bunch of Republican districts

02:16that were sort of Republican, and they thought they could win.

02:20Well, they lost them all in that wave.

02:23So Atlas Intel, one of the most accurate posters last term,

02:26came out with a new poll showing Democrats ahead plus 10 on the generic congressional ballot.

02:32So I dare Republicans in Texas and Ohio to do redistricting.

02:37I dare you to take incumbent Republicans right now and make their seats less safe

02:42because we're going to flip them.