New York – Pulitzer prize-winning writer Elizabeth Kolbert and staff writer for the New Yorker, reviews this book: “Ratf**ked,” detailing the Republican party’s Redistricting Majority Project or “REDMAP.” This was a strategic effort beginning decades ago to realign the electoral map in favor the party. Written by David Daley, editor of Salon.com – the book describes its provocative title as an actual term of art, associated with dirty tricks for partisan advantage; gerrymandering was one of them. Spoiler alert: the Voting Rights Act helped their efforts, especially in the 1990’s. Interestingly, Kolbert’s article identifies Virginian Patrick Henry as the first person to orchestrate a gerrymander even before the first congress had been seated. Read more in the New Yorker.
