With GOP power grab in Texas, Idaho should avoid gerrymandering | Opinion

My service on Idaho’s bipartisan Citizen Commission for Reapportionment was an exercise in civic responsibility, transparency, and fairness. Working across party lines, we held hearings across the state, reviewed hundreds of pages of public testimony and voted openly — with Idaho’s constitution and open meeting laws safeguarding our process.

In November 2021, our six‑member commission approved the congressional map by a 4–2 vote and the legislative map unanimously, submitting final plans days ahead of legal deadlines. The Idaho Supreme Court later upheld both maps unanimously, affirming that public input, geographic criteria and legal requirements were all honored.

That Idaho model stands in stark contrast to what Texas Republicans are pushing right now. The Texas Legislature and Governor Greg Abbott have unveiled a mid‑decade redistricting plan designed to shift as many as five congressional districts into safe Republican hands before the 2026 midterms—a move encouraged by President Trump. The draft map would redraw lines in Austin, Houston, Dallas and South Texas, undermining Democratic and minority representation by “over‑packing” voters into fewer districts. Critics have described these tactics as both partisan gerrymandering and an act of voter suppression.

We should all have deep concern about such efforts, this is a warning that redistricting used as a tool of political advantage erodes public trust and harms fair representation. I believe Idaho’s system shows how redistricting can work when citizens lead it, not politicians wielding raw power.

Idaho’s commission meets statutory requirements such as contiguity, compactness, preservation of counties and precincts, and strict prohibition against drawing lines for partisan or incumbent protection. We spent time in every region of the state, listened to rural and urban concerns alike, and invited meaningful input in public sessions. That process fostered maps grounded in rules and public trust — not political gamesmanship.

By contrast, Texas’s mid‑cycle maneuver violates norms of decennial redistricting and subverts the principle that maps should reflect population, not party politics. This is not merely a philosophical concern: Democrats in Texas are preparing dramatic resistance, including quorum‑breaking walkouts, and civil rights groups fear the new maps will disproportionately harm Latino and Black voters.

Idaho’s commission stands as living proof that bipartisan redistricting need not be idealistic — it can work. It constrains partisan actors, promotes competition and increases representational fairness — exactly as recent institutional research finds about states that remove veto points and strengthen commissions.

As someone who contributed to Idaho’s commission, I believe our approach should be defended and celebrated. Texans are now watching a politicized process unfold — with consequences not just for state politics, but for national democratic norms. Idaho’s model shows a better path forward: commission-based, transparent, guided by law, and insulated from raw partisan advantage.

If states across the country follow Idaho’s example instead of Texas’s playbook, we’ll have stronger democracy, more competitive elections, and representatives who truly reflect their communities. That’s why our own effort in Idaho was so important. Let’s not take fair, citizen‑driven redistricting for granted.

Amber Pence is a sixth-generation Idahoan and has worked for over two decades in politics and government. She more recently worked for Boise Mayor Dave Bieter and Presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg and was a member of the 2021 Redistricting Commission. She resides in Tetonia.