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President Trump has repeatedly called for Republican-led states to redraw their congressional districts before next year's midterms. Texas did so, Missouri's new map awaits the governor's signature, and leaders in Florida and Indiana are openly discussing it. Democratic-led states have mostly been slow to act in response. Colorado Public Radio's Bente Birkeland reports from her state.
BENTE BIRKELAND, BYLINE: California voters will decide this November whether to temporarily bypass their independent redistricting commission to draw five more blue seats. And in August, Governor Gavin Newsom made a plea. He asked blue states to join California's fight against GOP gerrymandering.
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GAVIN NEWSOM: We need to stand up. Not just California. Other blue states need to stand up.
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NEWSOM: We need to be firm. And I resolve...
BIRKELAND: But that hasn't happened. Democratic governors in already-gerrymandered states like Illinois and Maryland have said everything's on the table, but haven't made any moves. Then there's Colorado. Like California, it has an independent redistricting commission. Multimillionaire businessman Kent Thiry helped spearhead the movement in those two states. He says this national partisan battle is like his worst nightmare coming true.
KENT THIRY: Anyone who treasures representative democracy and the fragility of representative democracy has to be just horrified at what is happening right now.
BIRKELAND: Thiry says even though he doesn't want Colorado to follow California's lead...
THIRY: I am not critical of those who have decided that right now they're in a gunfight and you can't unilaterally disarm. I respect that logic, I just won't be an active part of it.
BIRKELAND: In Colorado, Democrats control state government and hold both U.S. Senate seats, but the House delegation is four Democrats and four Republicans. Some political observers say, in theory, it wouldn't be that hard to draw two more seats favorable to Democrats. However, Colorado Governor Jared Polis told progressive podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen that it's impossible to change how the state draws congressional lines before the midterm election.
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JARED POLIS: Our state constitution has a process. That cannot be amended in an off year. So there is no mechanism to go to the ballot this year, like California is doing.
BIRKELAND: That means 2026 is the earliest something could get on the ballot. But changing how Colorado redistricts to make it partisan isn't an idea Polis seems to support. And he doesn't think voters would, either.
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POLIS: They see through this. And swing voters, unaffiliated voters really don't like this kind of sheer arrogance.
BIRKELAND: Polis says he thinks Democrats can flip seats by focusing on other things, like the impact of Trump's massive tax and spending bill.
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POLIS: This is going to be an albatross around the neck of all the Republicans that voted for it.
BIRKELAND: But outside of Colorado's political establishment, some on the left do want to fight back. Jorge Rodriguez is an accountant from the northern part of the state. He's trying to put a question on the 2026 ballot to allow Colorado to draw more blue seats. Rodriguez says his idea gained traction after he posted about it on Reddit.
JORGE RODRIGUEZ: Kind of frustrated why Democratic leaders in Colorado are not trying to do anything. They're just playing it silent.
BIRKELAND: Rodriguez's idea still faces hurdles. The ballot title hasn't been approved, and then backers would need to raise money to get enough signatures to put it before voters and launch a statewide campaign. Rodriguez himself voted for Colorado's independent commission back in 2018.
RODRIGUEZ: I don't regret it, but in light of what's going on right now nationally, I - you know, things can change. And things have changed.
BIRKELAND: But if change happens in Colorado - and that's a big if - the state will have to wait until after 2026.
For NPR News, I'm Bente Birkeland in Colorado.
(SOUNDBITE OF HERMANOS GUTIERREZ'S "AMAR Y VIVIR") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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