Thomas Hofeller died a few days ago at age 75. He was the man who perfected gerrymandering for the Republican Party. For example, he drew new maps in North Carolina in 2010 that changed a 7-6 Democratic advantage into a 10-3 Republican advantage. In Pennsylvania he advised the Republican Party on its gerrymandering efforts, and we know how that worked out.
His success can be seen in the 2012 House elections. The Democratic candidates had 1.4 million more votes nationwide, but the Republicans elected a 33-seat majority.
I wonder about people like Mr. Hofeller. Did he hold democracy in such contempt that he felt proud of what he had done? Did he think Democrats were such a danger to the country that any tactic was justified to keep them out of power? Did he think that the cynicism that gerrymandering creates and the increase in candidates running without opposition helped our country thrive?
According the obituary in the New York Times, he was an Episcopalian? Did he think of himself as a moral man?
He wasn’t. People like Thomas Hofeller are the reason our republican form of government is failing.
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