CONTACT: Carolyn Fiddler
National Communications Director
[email protected]
MEDIA ADVISORY
NETROOTS NATION PANEL FEATURES DLCC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, LAWMAKERS
Democratic Legislative Leaders and Strategists Discuss Latest Redistricting
Developments, Democratic Fight to Combat GOP Gerrymandering
WHAT: The Rise and Fall of the GOP Gerrymander: The Fight for Progressive
Redistricting Continues
July 16th, 2016 | 9 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.
Room 227, America’s Center Convention Complex
St. Louis, MO
WHO: **Please note panelist addition**
- Jessica Post – Executive Director, DLCC
- Rep. Larry Hall – North Carolina House Democratic Leader
- Rep. Katrina Shankland – Wisconsin Assembly Assistant Democratic Leader
- Tracy Maxwell Heard, former Ohio House Democratic Leader
- Moderated by Carolyn Fiddler – National Communications Director, DLCC
WHY:
The round of redistricting after the 2010 elections has dramatically tilted the playing field towards Republicans in state legislative and national congressional elections. In 2011, Republican state legislators drew outrageous partisan and racial gerrymanders — at times, even bragging about their skills at skewing lines – that particularly minimized the political power of African American, Latino, and other minority communities. In 2016, Democrats are fighting back. State and federal courts have struck down Republican-drawn maps in Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia because of the extreme measures Republicans took to enshrine partisan and racial discrimination into legislative and congressional districts. A landmark partisan gerrymandering case is being considered by courts in Wisconsin.
A panel of Democratic legislative leaders and the head of the most potent weapon in the Democratic arsenal in battle for the next round of redistricting – DLCC and its work to elect Democratic statehouse majorities and build Democratic power in state legislatures – will discuss this cycle’s crucial redistricting targets, the impact of recent court decisions, and Democrats’ long-term strategy to flip the legislative chambers that will make the biggest difference in the fight for control of state capitols and Congress over the next decade.
For additional information or to schedule interviews with Missouri native Jessica Post or other panelists, please contact DLCC National Communications Director Carolyn Fiddler at [email protected].
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