Republicans and Democrats vehemently disagree over whether Virginia should adopt a new congressional map for the November midterms, but they’re leaning on the same person to sway ​voters to their side: former U.S. President Barack Obama.

Ahead of Virginia’s statewide special election on Tuesday, Obama has become an omnipresent voice of an expensive, high-stakes campaign that ‌could be critical in determining which party controls the House of Representatives after November’s elections.

The former president - once an opponent of gerrymandering - has endorsed efforts by Virginia’s Democratic Party to allow the state’s legislature to create new congressional districts that could give Democrats four additional seats in Congress, offsetting similar Republican efforts undertaken at Donald Trump’s behest in Texas and several other states.

  • ProfessorScience@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    I’m an opponent of gerrymandering, but until it’s banned across the board, I think it’s appropriate to fight fire with fire.

    • Triumph@fedia.io
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      5 days ago

      When your opponent cheats openly and with impunity, you don’t win by following the rules.

  • TryingToBeGood@reddthat.com
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    5 days ago

    What republicans? I see tv ads with obama touting the redistricting effort. What ads are the republicans looking at? And since when does reuters want a subscription? 😠

    • poke@sh.itjust.works
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      5 days ago

      I know someone from the area and it’s primarily through mail. Dozens of letters with obama’s face and out of context quotes claiming Obama is urging citizens to vote “no”.

    • pelespirit@sh.itjust.works
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      5 days ago

      Reuters is owned/ran by a Canadian billionaire family.

      The Thomson family controlled the Thomson Corporation through a family-owned entity, the Woodbridge Company, based in Toronto. (Along with 70% of Thomson Corporation, Woodbridge also owns a 40% stake in CTVglobemedia, which now owns the Globe and Mail daily newspaper in Toronto and CTV, Canada’s largest commercial TV network.) David K.R. Thomson and his brother, Peter Thomson, became co-chairmen of Woodbridge after their father’s death.[12]

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuters

  • GutterRat42@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    It would be so funny if Republican voters voted in favor of gerrymandering because they think Obama opposes it.