The 'master of the modern gerrymander' promised to 'bedevil the Democrats' until his dying day, notes show

(Image credit: AP Photo/C-SPAN)

published 6 September 2019

Thomas Hofeller was certainly committed.

Hofeller, who The New Yorker describes as the "master of the modern gerrymander," compiled scores of notes, spreadsheets, and emails before his death in Aug. 2018. The GOP operative was famously discreet and urged his fellow Republican strategists to keep their methods quiet, and it appears the discretion was for good reason — the unearthed files raise "new questions about whether Hofeller unconstitutionally used race data to draw North Carolina's congressional districts in 2016," writes The New Yorker.

The documents illuminate his extensive efforts to use demographic data and voting records to push for stark gerrymandering, strict voter ID laws, prison gerrymandering, and adding a citizenship question to the census. He kept detailed records on racial breakdowns in various districts and worked not only in North Carolina, where his efforts were most prominent, but also with GOP officials in Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

All of these efforts were part of a major redistricting strategy intended to strengthen Republican strongholds and make inroads in Democratic districts. His records show he had a little fun with the notion of making life hell for Democrats, too. After he was diagnosed with lung cancer and a kidney tumor, he pledged to a friend over email not to take his foot off the gerrymandering pedal just yet. "I still have time to bedevil the Democrats with more redistricting plans before I exit," he wrote. Read more about his work at The New Yorker.

Explore More

Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox