The story of REDMAP is surprisingly simple. In 2009, a Republican strategist named Chris Jankowski was reading a New York Times article and hit upon an insight: 2010 was more than a midterm election year; it was a census year. That meant there would be a reapportionment process during which state leaders would redesign legislative districts for the next decade. (The census is taken every 10 years.)
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This is not politics as usual. What happened in 2010 was different. It amounts to a firewall in the chamber of our government that is supposed to be the most directly responsive to the citizens' will. It is now completely insulated from that will.
