With the Supreme Court poised to potentially rule on a series of crucial cases involving redistricting, the 2020 census, and questions about gerrymandering, AR/Intel reached out the National Republican Redistricting Trust’s (NRRT) Adam Kincaid. As the group’s executive director, Kincaid oversees the GOP’s data and legal operation for the upcoming redistricting debate that will follow the 2020 census.
AR/Intel asked Kincaid about the potential impact of the upcoming Supreme Court cases, all of which are expected to receive some sort of action before the end of June. We also asked how the NRRT is preparing for a contentious redistricting fight, and what tactics Democrats are employing in their attempts to gain a redistricting advantage.
This exclusive interview is for SUBSCRIBERS only, but a preview is provided below. To gain access to the full interview, including specific analysis regarding the Supreme Court cases Department of Commerce v. New York (“census”), Benisek v. Lamone (Maryland “redistricting”), and Rucho v. Common Cause (North Carolina “gerrymandering”), become an AR/Intel subscriber by clicking here.
How might the Supreme Court’s decisions impact House races in 2020?
NRRT’s Adam Kincaid: [W]e now have liberal federal judges in three states (North Carolina, Ohio, and Michigan) that have thrown out Congressional maps under novel legal theories that have never been legitimized by the Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court rejects these theories, then the maps should stay as they are for 2020. If the Supreme Court affirms one or more of these theories, then we could have new maps in one or more of these states, and we should also expect a lot of new federal litigation aimed at changing more maps between now and 2020. I can say without hesitation that if the Supreme Court articulates a standard for identifying “unconstitutional” partisan gerrymanders, we’ll be bringing lawsuits in Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Oregon, Connecticut, and California this year. We’ll also look seriously at trying to undo the judicial gerrymanders in Pennsylvania and Florida.