The question by Elias Law Group Partner Abha Khanna on “why Governor DeSantis and Florida Republicans think they can blatantly ignore the Florida Constitution and the instructions of their own voters” is a perfect example of the “trickle down theory” lead by Trump from his first day in office. It’s no wonder that DeSantis believes he can behave, impose illegal legislation and blatantly ignore the Democratic Party in Florida. It is my opinion that he is trying to become Trumps doppelgänger.
Are we still living in a democracy? They started with mail-in-ballots disruption, elimination of mail boxes and rapid mail sorting machines, followed by armed agents on voting centers for intimidation, and now despicable and illegal gerrymandering. It's not democracy, it is a Gestapo.
You are right. He said "first they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out". We are living the new fascism, and nobody is paying attention. This administration has censored free speech, banned books, universities are under threats and extortion, and divided this country through fear, hate and racism.
I find it to be like prophecy. I wondered how long it would take the GOP to fall to their demise. I truly believe that the party should be dissolved and in its place something of a more independent party. It's brazen what the Republicans are doing and I think it should fall under treason. The entire party is cancerous and it depicts a criminally corrupt government going against the principles of the US Constitution. I would never vote Republican again. Never. There should be a two-party government but it should not be part Republican. The should all be held liable for what has transacted and arraigned and prosecuted because they all stand together. They should all fall together. There will be no America with them still in place in our government. It is We The People. It is not We The Republicans. You can't reverse everything that's happened. They've proven they want to take over this country. Mutiny. They all would have been facing the firing squad back in the day.
If all 50 states maximally gerrymandered in favor of the party controlling each state government, the projected U.S. House breakdown would be roughly:
Republicans: ~262 seats
Democrats: ~173 seats
That’s a ~30+ seat Republican advantage compared to a more neutral or proportional outcome.
Republicans control more state legislatures overall, especially in mid-sized and smaller states.
Even though Democrats dominate large states (like California and New York), Republicans can squeeze more extra seats out of their states through aggressive map-drawing.
The result: a structural advantage even if the national vote were close.
This isn’t a prediction of actual election results—it’s a “maximum theoretical gerrymander” scenario:
It assumes no legal constraints, commissions, or court interventions
It ignores geographic limits (some states just can’t be gerrymandered much further)
It assumes perfect partisan optimization, which rarely happens in practice
Interesting how “Be careful what you wish for-you might just get it!” can be the cautionary tale we live by
Where Republicans gain the most seats
These are the biggest drivers of the GOP advantage under a “max gerrymander everywhere” scenario:
Texas
Huge delegation (38 seats)
Unified Republican control
Can turn something like a ~60/40 split into ~30+ Republican seats
Single biggest source of net GOP gains
Florida
Large and fast-growing (28 seats)
Already heavily optimized in reality
Could push toward ~20–22 GOP seats
North Carolina
Classic gerrymander battleground (14 seats)
Can swing from roughly even to 10–11 Republican seats
Georgia
Competitive statewide, but map can favor GOP
Likely 9–10 Republican seats out of 14
Ohio
15 seats
Can be drawn to yield 11–12 Republicans
Secondary GOP contributors
These states don’t add as many raw seats individually, but collectively matter a lot:
Tennessee – ability to crack urban seats (e.g., Nashville)
Indiana – already near max but still some gain
Missouri – can eliminate remaining Dem seat
South Carolina – squeeze out one more GOP seat
Alabama & Louisiana – could reduce Democratic districts if unconstrained
*****Key pattern:
Republicans benefit most from many states where they control both the legislature and governorship, even if each state isn’t huge.
Where Democrats gain seats (but less efficiently)
California
Biggest prize (52 seats)
Could theoretically go from ~40D to near-clean sweep (48–50 seats)
If it is now unconstitutional to form districts that favor minorities and Democrats shouldn’t it be unconstitutional to establish districts that favor a majority of whites and Republicans ?Why don’t districts now have to be drawn to evenly distribute the whites, blacks, and other minorities? Just a silly
The Dems have to be louder about how many times the repubs have ignored voter approved amendments since they took power. They also destroyed the Managed Growth laws the Dems instituted and look how much the state has been degraded since 1990.
We also need to remove DeSantis and his crew too.
He’ll be gone soon. We have to vote in a dem governor.
Not going to happen
Ya never know. It was close when he was voted in. Maga has a terrible approval so…. This just brings Dems out in droves.
The next governor is Byron Donald
It appears the republcan party thinks they are above the law. So, of couse, the Constitution doesn't apply to them.
The question by Elias Law Group Partner Abha Khanna on “why Governor DeSantis and Florida Republicans think they can blatantly ignore the Florida Constitution and the instructions of their own voters” is a perfect example of the “trickle down theory” lead by Trump from his first day in office. It’s no wonder that DeSantis believes he can behave, impose illegal legislation and blatantly ignore the Democratic Party in Florida. It is my opinion that he is trying to become Trumps doppelgänger.
Karen in Tampa
Are we still living in a democracy? They started with mail-in-ballots disruption, elimination of mail boxes and rapid mail sorting machines, followed by armed agents on voting centers for intimidation, and now despicable and illegal gerrymandering. It's not democracy, it is a Gestapo.
Reverend Niemoller was correct.
You are right. He said "first they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out". We are living the new fascism, and nobody is paying attention. This administration has censored free speech, banned books, universities are under threats and extortion, and divided this country through fear, hate and racism.
I find it to be like prophecy. I wondered how long it would take the GOP to fall to their demise. I truly believe that the party should be dissolved and in its place something of a more independent party. It's brazen what the Republicans are doing and I think it should fall under treason. The entire party is cancerous and it depicts a criminally corrupt government going against the principles of the US Constitution. I would never vote Republican again. Never. There should be a two-party government but it should not be part Republican. The should all be held liable for what has transacted and arraigned and prosecuted because they all stand together. They should all fall together. There will be no America with them still in place in our government. It is We The People. It is not We The Republicans. You can't reverse everything that's happened. They've proven they want to take over this country. Mutiny. They all would have been facing the firing squad back in the day.
So…. Your preferred 2 parties would be?
Here’s an interesting scenario.
If all 50 states maximally gerrymandered in favor of the party controlling each state government, the projected U.S. House breakdown would be roughly:
Republicans: ~262 seats
Democrats: ~173 seats
That’s a ~30+ seat Republican advantage compared to a more neutral or proportional outcome.
Republicans control more state legislatures overall, especially in mid-sized and smaller states.
Even though Democrats dominate large states (like California and New York), Republicans can squeeze more extra seats out of their states through aggressive map-drawing.
The result: a structural advantage even if the national vote were close.
This isn’t a prediction of actual election results—it’s a “maximum theoretical gerrymander” scenario:
It assumes no legal constraints, commissions, or court interventions
It ignores geographic limits (some states just can’t be gerrymandered much further)
It assumes perfect partisan optimization, which rarely happens in practice
Interesting how “Be careful what you wish for-you might just get it!” can be the cautionary tale we live by
Where Republicans gain the most seats
These are the biggest drivers of the GOP advantage under a “max gerrymander everywhere” scenario:
Texas
Huge delegation (38 seats)
Unified Republican control
Can turn something like a ~60/40 split into ~30+ Republican seats
Single biggest source of net GOP gains
Florida
Large and fast-growing (28 seats)
Already heavily optimized in reality
Could push toward ~20–22 GOP seats
North Carolina
Classic gerrymander battleground (14 seats)
Can swing from roughly even to 10–11 Republican seats
Georgia
Competitive statewide, but map can favor GOP
Likely 9–10 Republican seats out of 14
Ohio
15 seats
Can be drawn to yield 11–12 Republicans
Secondary GOP contributors
These states don’t add as many raw seats individually, but collectively matter a lot:
Tennessee – ability to crack urban seats (e.g., Nashville)
Indiana – already near max but still some gain
Missouri – can eliminate remaining Dem seat
South Carolina – squeeze out one more GOP seat
Alabama & Louisiana – could reduce Democratic districts if unconstrained
*****Key pattern:
Republicans benefit most from many states where they control both the legislature and governorship, even if each state isn’t huge.
Where Democrats gain seats (but less efficiently)
California
Biggest prize (52 seats)
Could theoretically go from ~40D to near-clean sweep (48–50 seats)
BUT: already heavily Democratic → diminishing returns
New York
26 seats
Could push to 22–24 Democrats
One of Democrats’ most important gerrymander opportunities
Illinois
Already aggressively drawn
Might squeeze out 1–2 more Democratic seats
Maryland
Small but flexible (8 seats)
Can go from 7D–1R to 8D
Massachusetts
Already maxed out (all Democratic)
No additional gain possible
Why Democrats can’t fully “catch up”
Even with aggressive maps in big blue states:
Many Democratic votes are geographically concentrated (cities)
That makes it harder to spread them efficiently across districts
Some blue states are already near 100% Democratic delegations
👉 So Democrats run out of “extra seats” to extract.
LET THE GAMES BEGIN!
Wow, and it's another hour and a half till happy hour.
If it is now unconstitutional to form districts that favor minorities and Democrats shouldn’t it be unconstitutional to establish districts that favor a majority of whites and Republicans ?Why don’t districts now have to be drawn to evenly distribute the whites, blacks, and other minorities? Just a silly
thought.
Because race is an unconstitutional factor when drawing voting districts. Seems simple.
The Dems have to be louder about how many times the repubs have ignored voter approved amendments since they took power. They also destroyed the Managed Growth laws the Dems instituted and look how much the state has been degraded since 1990.
With the Supreme Court’s decision, the Florida Constitutional Amendment allowing districts to be racially devised is essentially unconstitutional.