{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://ross.house.gov/2025/9/ross-joins-colleagues-in-introducing-redistricting-reform-act", "Ross Joins Colleagues in Introducing Redistricting Reform Act", "2025-09-19", "2025", "2025-09", "Democrat", "House", "NC", "Deborah K. Ross", "R000305", "ross.house.gov", "ross", "https://ross.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "Congresswoman Deborah Ross (NC-02) joined a bicameral group of colleagues in introducing the Redistricting Reform Act of 2025. This legislation would prohibit mid-decade redistricting nationwide and require every state to establish independent redistricting. She spoke at a press conference, highlighting extreme, partisan gerrymandering in North Carolina.\n\nClick here to download Congresswoman Ross\u2019 remarks\n\nLed by Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (CA-18) and Senator Alex Padilla (CA), the bill already has the support of 49 co-sponsors.\n\n\u201cIn my home state of North Carolina, Republicans silenced voters\u2019 voices by enacting egregiously gerrymandered maps, effectively ensuring that Republicans would win the House in 2024,\u201d said Rep. Deborah Ross. \u201cNorth Carolina voters have been subjected to years of Republican redistricting and treated as political pawns. That\u2019s why I\u2019m proud to introduce the Redistricting Reform Act. It\u2019s time to end extreme Republican attempts to seize power through gerrymandering \u2013 from North Carolina to Texas to Missouri.\u201d\n\n\"President Trump has unleashed a redistricting war across the country, calling up Republican-controlled states and demanding that they rig their maps. Why? Because he's an unpopular President who has stripped healthcare from millions, and he knows that rigging the redistricting process is the only way his party doesn't lose the House in 2026,\" said Rep. Zoe Lofgren. \"When Democrats held the House, we passed independent redistricting in H.R. 1, but Senate Republicans killed it. It can't be just one side that agrees to stop gerrymandering; it needs to be both. I welcome the support of my Republican colleagues from California, since so many have recently expressed their support for a nonpartisan redistricting process.\"\n\n\u201cMAGA Republicans are afraid to run on their unpopular record of cutting health care and escalating tariff wars raising prices for consumers, so they\u2019re redrawing Congressional maps to hand Donald Trump the congressional seats he says he\u2019s \u2018entitled\u2019 to,\u201d said Sen. Padilla. \u201cIn response, California has no choice but to gear up for a fight. But there is a better way forward. By banning mid-decade gerrymanders and establishing fair criteria so districts are drawn to best represent communities, our bill is a commonsense, nonpartisan solution to Donald Trump\u2019s power grab.\u201d\n\n\u201cRepublicans are failing. Their policies are unpopular. Instead of trying to win on the issues, they are attempting to rig the outcome of the election and silencing Brown and Black voices. Texas was the beginning of their scheme, and we won\u2019t stand by as it happens across the country. We will fight fire with fire as well as push for fair, constitutional, and fair redistricting. The REFORM Act will make sure redistricting cannot be used as a political weapon by wannabe dictators,\" said Rep. Marc Veasey (TX-33).\n\n\"Right now, we are watching Republican-controlled states \u2014 Texas, North Carolina, Missouri \u2014 redraw maps to entrench their power and undermine the will of the voters,\" said Rep. Julia Brownley (CA-26). \"The Redistricting Reform Act gives every Member of Congress the opportunity to stop this madness. It gives them a chance to prove they care about fairness and accountability more than Donald Trump\u2019s whims. Independent, citizen-led redistricting puts communities back together. It makes our elections more fair, and it gives voters the ability to hold their elected representatives more accountable to them. Today, my Republican colleagues have a choice: to join us in ending partisan gerrymandering once and for all, or be remembered for undermining the very foundation of our democracy.\"\n\n\u201cThe democratic process can only work when everyone has the freedom to cast their ballot safely and securely,\u201d said Rep. John B. Larson (CT-01). \u201cRepublican mid-decade redistricting efforts are diluting the voices of Black and Hispanic voters for partisan gain in a growing number of states. I commend the legislators in Texas and Missouri who used every tool in their toolbox to try to stop these racial gerrymanders and applaud efforts by Democrats in California to fight fire with fire. But this gamesmanship must end. I am proud to join my colleagues in this effort to fairly reform the redistricting process so every vote counts, no matter your state or zip code. As our late friend John Lewis would say, now is the time for some good trouble. We must preserve our democracy.\u201d\n\n\"Our polling shows more than two-thirds of Americans know it's bad for our country when a single political party controls how voting districts are drawn,\" said Virginia Kase Solom\u00f3n, President & CEO of Common Cause. \"But that hasn't stopped Donald Trump, whose own voters reject the White House's mid-decade redistricting power grab. Common Cause proudly supports the Redistricting Reform Act of 2025, legislation that responds to Republican, Democrat, and Independent voters' demands for Congress to protect fair representation for all.\"\n\n\u201cThe unprecedented and unpopular mid-decade power grabs in Texas and Missouri at the direction of Donald Trump underscore that the current system \u2014 a system protected by too many Republicans \u2014 does not work,\" said Former Attorney General Eric Holder. An overwhelming majority of Americans oppose partisan gerrymandering because it leaves all citizens worse off by sowing extreme division, undermining equal representation, and boosting the influence of powerful special interests. We must pursue a bold, new vision for our country by building a system that gives power back to the people instead of compromised politicians. The Redistricting Reform Act is a crucial step toward achieving that vision and putting our nation back on the path toward true democracy, where every state is required to have independent commissions draw the maps instead of power-hungry politicians and every state is held to the same standards to achieve fair maps. Any Republicans who demonstrate concern about the threat of gerrymandering should work with their Democratic colleagues to pass this bill right now to put a stop to both Donald Trump\u2019s gerrymandering scheme and unfair redistricting wherever it exists.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:10:29Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://ross.house.gov/2025/9/ross-joins-colleagues-in-introducing-redistricting-reform-act"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.011265441775322, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}