The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, and Stephen Wolf, with additional contributions from Daniel Donner, David Jarman, Steve Singiser, James Lambert and David Beard.
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Leading Off
● NC Redistricting: North Carolina’s Supreme Court performed a complete reversal on Friday, overturning its own ruling striking down gerrymandered GOP maps that it had issued just months ago. The court held that claims of partisan gerrymandering were “political questions” that could not be addressed by the judicial system.
- “Preordained on 8 November”: In a blistering dissent, one of two remaining Democratic justices castigated the decision, saying it came about not because of any change in the facts of the case but only because Republicans flipped control of the court in last year’s midterm elections.
- A 10-4 map—or even 11-3: Last year’s congressional elections were held on a court-drawn map that yielded an evenly split delegation. Now, with unfettered license to gerrymander, Republicans can craft a new House map that gives them 10 or even 11 seats while also locking in their supermajorities in the legislature.
- Making a major SCOTUS case moot: To the extent there’s any silver lining, the U.S. Supreme Court may decide it no longer needs to adjudicate an even more radical lawsuit brought by North Carolina Republicans that could bar state courts nationwide from ever weighing in on congressional redistricting disputes.